# First Job



## MAGreen (Jan 5, 2009)

We've talked about current occupations, but what was your first paying job? 
When I was 13 I would go to work during the summer and on weekends with my godmother at a dog grooming shop. I would help bathe and brush the dogs. It was fun. My first job with taxes...I worked in an indoor amusement park, hostessing birthday parties! 
What about you?


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## jpmorgan49 (Feb 10, 2009)

When I was 13 I took a job it the fields with immigrant workers.  I picked vegetables all day.  The job lasted 1 whole day.  My next job started at 16....
jp


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## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

My first job was when I was 14.  I worked in the late spring, summer, and early fall at a drive-in theater.  I worked in the concession stand.  I did that for three summers before I got a year round job.  
deb


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

I was a baby sitter _extraordinaire_ starting when I was 13 and doing that for years. I actually babysat much longer than many of my friends and I think because I was older, parents trusted me with fairly little babies. Plus, I had my license so I could drive myself so the parents didn't have to worry about driving me home, which was a plus for them.

My first "real" job was at McDonald's. I was 17 when I started working there and stayed for about 6 months. The manager wanted to send me to Hamburger U but I politely declined because I wanted to go to a real U, which I did. 

L


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## kevin63 (Feb 10, 2009)

My first job that actually gave me some money was when I was 13-------I cut grass around the neighborhood.  I was money hungry and had lot of yards that I cut every week.  That paid for a lot of things I wanted when I was that age.  The first job I had the started taking taxes out of my check was when I was 16 and I worked in a shopping mall.  I picked up trash around the mall.


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## Kathy (Nov 5, 2008)

My first job was selling watermelons at a stand with my cousin, Michael. We were both 11 years old. My Uncle owned a gas station on a busy highway leading to a lake. He also owned a farm and raised vegetables. He always let put in a watermelon patch. We did that until we were about 16.


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

My first job was a grocery sacker/stocker/cashier. I worked weekends during school and full time in the summers from the time that I was 12. My first real full time job was in the US navy.


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## Cowgirl (Nov 1, 2008)

My first job at 16 was selling donuts.  This shop had the best homemade donuts!  Since then I couldn't eat a  mediocre donut (dunkin donuts, grocery store donuts) until Krispy Kreme came along.  Even with Krisy Kreme they have to come right off the donut line.  
The second best part of my first job was trading a pound of french fries for a dozen donuts with the Henry's Hamburger's across the street.  I'm not sure how I didn't gain weight...oh to be young again!


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## intinst (Dec 23, 2008)

Mowed grass for money when I was 13 to 15, then got a job bussing tables at a stake house in downtown Wichita. Was in the big money then! $1.75 an hour with tips from the the wait staff if I kept their tables clear quickly. Wow, some weeks I brought home $30! My first aircraft job was at Cessna in 1973. They paid the whopping figure of $2.445 an hour. I was making $2.50 at the job before, but aircraft had and paid overtime! (Yes I meant to type that half cent, Cessna was famous for paying that way. Figured over twenty thousand workers, that ha' penny came to quite a sum in a year.)


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## patrisha w. (Oct 28, 2008)

Working behind a counter at Woolworths! I HATED it. The next was filing papers which wasn't anywhere as bad as Woolworths.

patrisha


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## intinst (Dec 23, 2008)

You do know that many of our members are thinking, What is Woolworths?  Been worse if you had said Kresses, I guess.


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## KBoards Admin (Nov 27, 2007)

My first paying job was getting $7 every summer Saturday to mow the nine greens of our local golf course. Actually, it was a rancher's pasture converted into a makeshift golf course. 

I would have done it for free because I got to use a riding lawn tractor. It's how I learned to drive in circles.


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## Cowgirl (Nov 1, 2008)

intinst said:


> You do know that many of our members are thinking, What is Woolworths? Been worse if you had said Kresses, I guess.


My first "Real Grown Up job" was working in a downtown area...wasn't making a lot of money so I would eat lunch at the worthworth lunch counter....quick, cheap and not bad!


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## Sailor (Nov 1, 2008)

I always had to babysit growing up...probably why I don't have kids! 

BUT, my first paid job that the government and state actually got their kick-back from, was working at Rotten Robbie's gas station when I was 15. They didn't have a shirt with my name so I got to wear the manager's shirt who's name was Mark. This was when the attendant pumped gas and actually went out to the customer and exchanged monies. I was known as Mark and they never let me pump their gas. Really easy job!

Mark - oops, I mean...

Sailor


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## Aravis60 (Feb 18, 2009)

Leslie said:


> I was a baby sitter _extraordinaire_ starting when I was 13 and doing that for years. I actually babysat much longer than many of my friends and I think because I was older, parents trusted me with fairly little babies. Plus, I had my license so I could drive myself so the parents didn't have to worry about driving me home, which was a plus for them.
> 
> My first "real" job was at McDonald's. I was 17 when I started working there and stayed for about 6 months.


Me too!


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## Thumper (Feb 26, 2009)

I worked as a file clerk/phone person in an insurance agent's office when I was 17 (I wasn't allowed a job before then; my Dad's answer every time I brought it up was "School IS your job..." I thought he was terribly mean back then   ) I think I stayed there for about 6 months, and quit after the 10th time the boss "forgot" to sign my paycheck. 

I then entered the wonderful world of Fast Food with a job at Wendy's. Hated it, but I learned more working there than I did filing and answering phones.


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

Harvey said:


> It's how I learned to drive in circles.


LOL! Then I hope you'll be _flying_ to DC....


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

Thumper said:


> I worked as a file clerk/phone person in an insurance agent's office when I was 17 (I wasn't allowed a job before then; my Dad's answer every time I brought it up was "School IS your job..." I thought he was terribly mean back then  )


My parents had the same attitude and I've done the same with my children. As I am fond of saying, once you start working, you'll be working for the rest of your life, so it's nice to put if off as long as possible.

L


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

Thumper said:


> I worked as a file clerk/phone person in an insurance agent's office when I was 17 (I wasn't allowed a job before then; my Dad's answer every time I brought it up was "School IS your job..." I thought he was terribly mean back then  ) I think I stayed there for about 6 months, and quit after the 10th time the boss "forgot" to sign my paycheck.
> 
> I then entered the wonderful world of Fast Food with a job at Wendy's. Hated it, but I learned more working there than I did filing and answering phones.


I can steal half of this post!  I worked as a file clerk for an insurance company when I was 17 (I wasn't allowed a job before then; I was in the U.S. on a visa that allowed me in as a dependent of my father's and did not permit dependents to work at all. Went back to Germany at 16 after finishing HS and got my first job there.) Quit after about six months, as soon as I decently could, because it was boring and didn't pay very well. 

Then had a (thankfully also short-lived) job as a waitress in one of those eat-in movie theatres. Hated it. Learned a lot about human nature. But that was probably the worst job I've ever had.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

First job (outside of a few babysitting gigs) was as a cook at the local Burger Chef. That lasted about 1 week before I quit. I had a summer job the next year as a grill cook at a local family restaurant. It wasn't quite as bad as the Burger Chef job, plus I was more motivated to make the money, so I stayed with it until it was time to go to college in the autumn.

After college, my first full-time job was as a sales clerk in a music store (records and tapes, stereos, and guitars). That lasted about 3 years until I got a job as a text editor at a typesetting company for a big pay raise up to $5.00/hour.


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## frojazz (Feb 10, 2009)

My first job was working for my father on our strawberry patch. I would help him plant the strawberries in the spring, when it was cold out (about 45-50 degrees) and the plants would be partially frozen and eventually my fingers would be, too. Ugh! We used a converted tree planter that my dad hooked up to the tractor. Two people would sit on the back and these little arms would come down and you would have to put the strawberry plant between the rubber squares at the right height so that the knob of the plant would be at soil level when it was put in the ground. A fourth person would walk the row behind the tractor, making sure that the plants were at the correct depth and planting by hand if a plant was missed. Every now and then we would get silly and plant one or two (or five) plants upside down just to keep the person walking the row busy.

An example of a tree planter (I don't know those people):









Once the strawberries were ripe, we would open for business. It was a pick-your-own farm, so I'd man the strawberry shed and hand out boxes and weigh them after the customers were done picking. We had a system with flags that would show how far a row had been picked.

I was 8-14 years old when we had the strawberries. I would go out in the morning and eat as many strawberries as I could. I would be so sick for the first couple of days! But the taste of those ripe berries when they were still warm from the sun...I'll never forget it.

We had a small patch of raspberries, too, but the strawberries are what I remember the most. We tried to get another patch going at my dad's farm recently, but they haven't had a farm dog in several years and the deer and rabbits have taken over, so the strawberries never stood a chance.

I've been to pick-your-own farms since then, but no one carries that same variety of strawberry (Glooscap), and a lot of commercial varieties have been bred to be large berries, not bred for taste. We planted a kind called Kent one year at the farm, and they were big and were a pretty glossy red, but they just didn't taste as good. Some day I plan to have strawberries again. They are a pain, though, because you don't get any yield the first year. We would always pick off all of the flowers the first year so the plants had a year to put energy into growing.

Thanks for this thread, all! I've enjoyed the memories.


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## Neversleepsawink;) (Dec 16, 2008)

When I was 15 I worked at my Landlords swap meet stand.  He told my family if we worked for him, Sat-Sun 6am-6pm he would give us credit on our rent.  So I spent many hours selling jeans.  Sometimes he would give me a free pair of jeans for doing a good job.  Not a fun job...don't miss it.  At age 16 I got a real paying job at the Broadway (later changed to Macys).  I worked weekends, and sometimes fridays depending on how much homework I had.  It wasn't fun because I had so much work due to being in advanced classes.  I struggled, but I needed to help my family with money. It was worth it.


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## Anju  (Nov 8, 2008)

I babysat from the age of about 11 until ?? but my first taxable job was also at Woolworths, dusting shelves.


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## MAGreen (Jan 5, 2009)

Great stories everyone! Thanks for sharing, and keep 'em coming!


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

My first job was babysitting the neighbor's kids.  My first "real" job was sales clerk for Robert Hall's clothing store, long gone....loved it!

Betsy


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

My first job was at Liittle Ceaser's Pizza. I started as a phone girl (taking orders). I think I was 15 1/2..

That was the first pizza place I worked at, but not my last. Over the years, I've worked for Little Ceasers, Domino's, Pistol Pete's Pizza, Pizza Hut, and Pizza City USA...Yes, I love pizza. I could seriously eat it every day (and have done that before) I've done everything from taking the orders, making them, cashiering, and delivering.


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

I lived in Iowa, I think detassling corn was the first job we all had besides babysitting.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

crebel said:


> I lived in Iowa, I think detassling corn was the first job we all had besides babysitting.


LOL - that brings back some memories. A lot of my friends did that at some point (in NW Ohio), but I managed somehow to avoid it.


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

If we're voting for a favorite, my vote goes to "Mark" who worked at Rotten Robbie's gas station not pumping gas.


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## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

13yo = weeding soybean fields
14yo = pumping gas
15-18yo = outdoor lumber yard 

those were the days!


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## MonaSW (Nov 16, 2008)

My first job as a teenager was cleaning up outside the grocery store across the street from my house. My first tax paying job was the US Army.


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## Vegas_Asian (Nov 2, 2008)

Reception at a church. spent more time reading or flipping through the channels of the tv than working...it just wasn't that busy and everyone kept on bringing me books.


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## Tripp (May 28, 2009)

After babysitting, my first job was at the local library.  I was a page and my responsibility was to sort and shelve the books.  It helped me to get my next job in my university library when I was in college.  They were the best part time jobs.


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## evpseeker (May 29, 2009)

When I wasn't working in my parents garden my brothers and I were working in local hayfields getting up hay. I was quite the little tomboy lemme tell ya.   I credit that job for giving me great arm and chest muscles that to this day still helps fight gravity. LOLOL

  My first real tax paying job was when I was 16 and was hired to be a cashier at Kmart. That's where I learned how mean and hateful consumers can really be.


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## Forster (Mar 9, 2009)

Moving irrigation pipe.  4" diameter, about 40' long section, twice a day everyday.  Did it every summer during high school and between my freshman and soph years in college.  Paid 10 cents per pipe.  Muddy, wet, hard labor but did have the side benefits of making me immune to mosquito bites and keeping me in superb shape.


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## Guest (Jun 1, 2009)

I started working when I was 14. I did laundry in a nursing home from 1-9pm every Saturday and Sunday, worked in the nursing home's kitchen from 3-7pm 3 days a week and had school and activities the rest of the time. Needless to say I didn't have much free time!


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## geoffthomas (Feb 27, 2009)

Other than delivering papers, which I gather no one is counting.....

I started work at 14 working for a Big Boy franchise in Ohio for $.78 per hour - below min even then.
But restaurant workers weren't covered by min wage.
Worked sometimes 7 day weeks - occasionally long days (yes we are talking under age here).
But I was earning the money to pay for tuition at "Catholic" schools (one did not want to go to the public ones).
Last two years of high school worked weekends during the school year too.

With that terrible wage, I still had more spending money than most of my peers.

Just sayin....


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## sandypeach (Oct 28, 2008)

My first taxable job was during Christmas break after my first quarter of college (yes, children, back then we had quarter terms, not semesters).  I was a salesman at Bond's Clothes at Eastgate Mall,  the Chattanooga area's only (at that time) shopping mall.


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## KathyluvsKindle (Apr 13, 2009)

My first job was four years at a small public library. I shelved and checked out books. And, in my spare time I read at least half of the books in the library. This job insured that my bibliomania became a chronic condition.  I was my favorite job!


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## Tip10 (Apr 16, 2009)

My fist paying job (other than Baby Sitting and doing Yard work) was as an Assistant Wrangler at a Guest Ranch up near Kings Canyon National Park.  Job was basically to saddle and bridle up horses before each guest trail ride, pull saddles and bridles after the ride, muck stalls, etc.

Only could work it for a few weeks before school started -- following that I did a summer stint as a Janitor at a Hotel and then got a job on the flight line at Oakland International for my Junior and Senior years in HS.


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## Jesslyn (Oct 29, 2008)

My 1st paying taxes job was at a bank.  I was one of the folks who stuffed those cancelled checks in your bank statement.  To Whom It May Concern - sorry for all those mistakes!  
It was very exciting for me.  At 16, I was the only kid that I knew to have a checking account; working at the bank required one so that they could do the direct deposit thing


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## Debra Purdy Kong (Apr 1, 2009)

My first paying job was at age 14. I was hired to pick strawberries for a couple of weeks in July. I got up at the crack of dawn and rode in a bus for nearly two hours to the farm. There was no shade, plenty of heat, and acres of dusty strawberries. We were paid something like $1.40 a flat and I was a painfully slow picker. I lasted 3 days and came home each day covered in strawberries from head to toe because inevitably strawberry fights would start. I'm not sure I was even paid for the work I did.


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## frojazz (Feb 10, 2009)

I hope you got to eat some of those strawberries, Debra!


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## Angela (Nov 2, 2008)

I started babysitting at age 11. My first *real* job was at a local hamburger place called The Dairy King.


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## CegAbq (Mar 17, 2009)

km522 said:


> My first job was four years at a small public library. I shelved and checked out books. And, in my spare time I read at least half of the books in the library. This job insured that my bibliomania became a chronic condition. I was my favorite job!


Same here; I loved it; my dream was to be locked in the library overnight and read to my heart's content.
My first paid job was ticket seller & concessionaire at the local movie theater.


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## Debra Purdy Kong (Apr 1, 2009)

frojazz said:


> I hope you got to eat some of those strawberries, Debra!


I did. Too many, and I still love strawberries.


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## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

Aside from babysitting, my first job was working as counter waitress one summer for Hal's on the boardwalk in Asbury Park.  It was horrible ($1 an hour in cash, but taxes were taken out) and I quit mid-August.

During college summers, I worked counters for Harry M. Stevens' concessions at Monmouth Park racetrack in Oceanport, NJ.


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## kdawna (Feb 16, 2009)

I worked in an old fashioned ice cream/fast food/pick up your food at the window "drive in". I was 14 years old and made $1/hr.  We had to hand peel potatoes for french fries: bread chicken pieces for deep fried chicken. Make barb.Q ham sandwiches from real ham( I remember them slicing the whole hams really thin). Great food. It was lots of fun making soft ice cream treats and best of all I met my first husband at the window when I was 17.
Kdawna


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## Brenda M. (Nov 26, 2008)

Mine was Carvel Ice Cream - YUM! I loved working there. The owner was very OCD and the place had to be spotless, we had to learn how to add everything in our heads and *gasp* make our own change. What kid can do that know a days? 

But, I really did love it and ate ice cream every day!


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Brenda M. said:


> ...we had to learn how to add everything in our heads and *gasp* make our own change. What kid can do that know a days?...


Heh...reminds me of my first retail job. Had to enter in all taxable items on the cash register first, get the sub-total, then calculate the sales tax, then add in any non-taxable items. We had a little cheat sheet for figuring out the tax, but most of us got pretty good at doing it in our head -- at least until they changed it from 5% to 6%.  And as you said, we had to figure out the change ourselves. Now days I doubt most of the cashiers with their computerized registers could figure out how to give you change for a $15.36 total if you gave them $20.01 without the register telling them the change due.


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## Kristus412 (Nov 22, 2008)

I started babysitting in 5th grade and a month after I turned 15 I went to word at Walt Disney World at what was then MGM Studios. I worked fast food at Backlot Express the one right between Star Tours and the Indiana Jones stunt show.


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## frojazz (Feb 10, 2009)

NogDog said:


> Now days I doubt most of the cashiers with their computerized registers could figure out how to give you change for a $15.36 total if you gave them $20.01 without the register telling them the change due.


Even with a cash register, giving them change with a bill like that gets weird looks. Can I help it if I don't want to jingle when I walk? Although this practice has declined since I've started saving my change for CoinStar...


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## Brenda M. (Nov 26, 2008)

frojazz said:


> Even with a cash register, giving them change with a bill like that gets weird looks. Can I help it if I don't want to jingle when I walk? Although this practice has declined since I've started saving my change for CoinStar...


This drives me nuts! I always try to get rid of my pennies and most times I have to tell the cashiers what change to give me back.


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## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

I have given up trying to give cashiers the change part of my total after they have inputted what I handed them.  It freaks them out.  I believe it's because the school systems now require calculators, whereas when I went to school we were not allowed to use them.  I believe the calculators have become crutches.  Just my opinion.
deb


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