What was your first job and what did it teach you?

[Dappleganger]

Mine was a morning and weekend paper route from the ages of 12-15 (three years). We lived in a not-that-safe neighborhood so my sweet Mom would follow me in her car every single morning while I wrapped and delivered papers from my bike. I also had to go around and collect the payments every two weeks (major PIA). The upside of this is that pretty much every single neighbor of ours knew who I was and called me to babysit, so I was never without a job. Cash=freedom to me and I was very proud to pay for all of my own clothes and shoes at a very early age.

That first job taught me that it was ok to get up when it was wet and rainy to do a job that was usually thankless, but being excellent was very important. I also learned that keeping your word made a name for yourself and that no job is too low that you cannot bring some dignity to it. Then later, as a Mom and finally realized just how much of a sacrifice my own mother made without never complaining (and how much I should have told her thank you more often).

[ThomWV]

1. Putting flyers on cars in parking lots - got paid $2

and looking back on it what I have learned was how very easy it would have been to kidnap all the children you wanted back in the 50's.

[Orrex]

2. I worked the picnic pavillions at an amusement park for $2.30/hour

And it taught me that companies care nothing at all for their employees and will work them as hard as they can for as little compensation as possible.

In the quarter century since that time, I've seen nothing to contradict this lesson.

[Iggo]

3. Clerk/Stock-boy at a liquor store.

Show up.
Show up on time.
Do the job they hired you to do.

EDIT: I believe minimum wage was $2.65/hr at the time...late 70's, SoCal.

[Raven]

4. Working with the mentally retarded in Alabama under a Federal

Court Order. Learned about the courage and fortitude of people kept in back wards for years. Learned that nothing is impossible if you work at it hard enough. Learned how much I took for granted the gifts God gave me and didn't give others. Best job I ever had!

[lumberjack_jeff]

38. +1

[LaurenG]

5. I worked as a receptionist at H&R Block during tax season when I was 16

It taught me to run office equipment and how to print very neatly. I worked evenings and weekends. I was living in Ct at the time and on my own so I was grateful to have work.

[Vinca]

6. Babysitting. It taught me that it would be best if I remained childless.

[rucky]

7. My grandfather's flower shop. (age 14-17)

It taught me how to save money. And when I worked in the warehouse, I learned everything about classic rock.

[trotsky]

8. Corn detasseling.

It taught me that work is freaking hard and going from cold & wet to baking & parched in the same day, every day is a pain in the ass! But it was the only way, at age 13, I could make more than minimum wage.

[kentauros]

9. That mowing lawns is hard, dirty, sweaty work for low pay.

But it was something to start up a bank account and have a little money without having to rely on an allowance. Later, I found that food service work was also hard, dirty, sweaty work for low pay (not to mention that unless you died overnight, you come into work anyway.)

Thankfully, I discovered the benefits of the cube-farm and now I can PFW (Post From Work) :P

[elocs]

10. You don't see kids delivering papers anymore--it's nearly all adults now.

I never had a paper route as a kid, but now at age 58 I have a USA Today motor route. I have to collect every week from stores, though.

My first job was a work study job my freshman year of college in our library. The old librarian took me upstairs to have me shelf-read, making sure all the books were in order by the Dewey Decimal system. She told me to "make it look like elocs was here".

It wasn't until a few years ago that I realized that admonition by that old librarian to a young guy on his first job would impact how I did my jobs from then on--always doing them so people would know that elocs was here. At the time neither one of us knew the impact that her words would have on me.

[rpannier]

11. In High School I worked for a Creative Consultant (Food Advertising)

I learned several things

1. Style trumps substance
2. Some ppl are just too stupid, yet they seem to always have important positions (relative to yours)
3. The person you're doing the work for must be tolerated
4. Money does talk
5. I like money -- in 1980, I was making 15/hr working sporadically during the school year and 19/hr working full-time during the summer
6. I hated Joey Lawrence because he was such a f*cking ass

[iamthebandfanman]

12. i worked at a textile mill at 14

but just sweeping and cleaning up any liquid spills of any sort lol

got 3 bux an hour

[zipplewrath]

13. Bus boy

A place called "Sweden Haus" for anyone that may remember it. Smorgas board place. "All you can eat" schtick. $2.15 per hour (Minimum at the time). When they liked you, they didn't give you a raise, they "let" you work more hours. I don't think anyone over 20 worked there except the managers. I learned probably one of the worst lessons I could, and it has served me well.

If you are good enough, you can get away with anything.

They had rules out the wazzoo. But since when I was working, they could frequently not have another bus boy (because I was so fast) they ignored basically every single rule. It pissed off one of the other bus boys who was forever skipping out on work to flirt with the waitresses. He got busted for every rule they had, before they finally fired him. When I left to go off to college the manager said something about "probably nothing I can do to keep you around", I almost laughed. Like I was going to skip college to pursue a career at the Sweden Haus.

[supernova]

14. Xmas gift wrapper at Belk's

I was 16 and spent that holiday season manning the gift wrap counter at Belk's. I think I made all of about $3/hour. I learned:

1) How to wait on customers and make change.

2) How to wrap oddly shaped things like plant stands.

3) Some customers never know what they want, regardless of how you try to help them. If you give them one thing, they will always want something else.

[madmom]

15. Babysitting and mowing lawns when I was 12-13. I learned that when I made my

own money and bought my own school clothes my dad didn't have a say (to a point) in what I wore. He dressed me like an old lady, so I worked my butt off to be able to get what I wanted.

[TlalocW]

16. Mine was also a paper route throughout high school

In middle school, Dad came to my brother and me and asked what we would think if he got us, "A little motorcycle." That meant mo-ped. I honestly didn't care one way or another since I wasn't into motorcycles or cars, being a bookworm, but he got us one. And then another. Then he got us both paper routes. :)

Getting up at 3:30 every day, 365 days a year, rolling up newspapers, and putting them into the giant baskets he made and attacked to the back. I learned perseverance, do the work quickly and eficiently so I could go back to bed before school started, learning about my customers so I could "porch" the paper for elderly customers who had trouble getting around (got me good Xmas bonuses), and to bribe the cops with a morning paper as I didn't have my license when I started. :) Actually, since we were in a small town, and we were known as good kids, the cops didn't mind us being out there "illegally." We still gave them a paper though when we ran into each other.

Eventually, we had a fleet of mo-peds for a short time - 4 to be exact. We paid Dad back on the first two - Old Yeller (original one that gave us the most fits that we wanted to shoot) and Blue Thunder (no muffler), and eventually bought, "the Twins," as replacements but kept the first 2 for a while. I was sad to sell Blue Thunder. Its speedometer went up to 40 (the others only 30). I only got it up to 35 after a mile on a straight-away. :)

For the first semester of college, I would wake up at 3:30, sit straight up in my dorm bed, and think to myself I needed to get up and deliver papers. Then I would look around, smile, and go back to bed.

TlalocW

[Javaman]

17. I learned the wisdom of rubber gloves...

I was a dish washer.

[Iggo]

24. I did that.

Wanted to kill myself.

Hot. Loud. Wet. And the dishes never stop coming.

[H2O Man]

18. "groundskeeper"

I took care of an estate with an enormous lawn and a lake. The required pace and quality of work was less than I was used to when working with/for my father. It taught me that I could earn money, something that I didn't get at home. It also taught me that most people were not familiar with doing hard work at the level of intensity that my father demanded.

[NYC_SKP]

19. Picking up corn cobs in the chicken yard, penny a pop, or a dime a dozen, I forget.

Very young. Then yard maintenance for a realtor, then dishwasher in the Fat City Cafe, ages 13-15.

Hated paper-routes, tried subbing for a friend, hated it.

All taught me, as you say, cash=freedom.

Still true today.

[VioletLake]

20. I washed dishes at a nice restaurant when I was 16.

It taught me that dried melted cheese is the bane of people who wash dishes. I also learned, by heart, the smell of food with soap.

[Altoid_Cyclist]

21. My first real job was working in the shoe department at the local Sears.

I had a Dept. Manager who openly claimed that all young people were worthless and nothing would change his mind. When someone pointed out to him that he started as one of those worthless young people and was given the benefit of the doubt, he said that well.... he was better than any other young people.

After about 2 1/2 years there, I accidentally discovered that the Automotive Dept. Manager was skimming from the company. Anyone want to guess which one of us was let go? I learned that it is possible to bust my ass at a job and be let go for doing nothing wrong.

Two good things did happen there though, I met my wife there and the ***hole Automotive Manager was fired about six months after I was let go.

He now manages a local airport!!!???

As the saying goes; I learned all that I needed to know from my parents.
Work hard, take responsibility, treat people fairly and with respect and among many other things....NEVER stop learning until the day that you die.

[spartan61]

22. I worked in the local "soda shop" one summer

when I was in high school. It was before the civil rights movement. One afternoon a Black man came in for lunch. My boss told me to ignore the man and not wait on him. I was only 15 and did what my boss told me, but I knew this was wrong. The man finally gave up and left the restaurant. I could feel my heart breaking so that afternoon I quit that job but it had an impact on me for the rest of my life. Years later, as a teacher, I would tell about this episode in my life to my students. They seemed to better understand the importance of the civil rights movement because I was able to make it more personal. When we elected Obama as our President, I felt that our country had finally accepted the fact that skin color does not matter. How sad to now realize that not much has changed...many of our citizens are still racist.

[depakid]

23. Dunkin Doughnuts

What did I learn?

Never to eat doughtnuts.

[gkhouston]

32. LOL, one of my grandmothers worked in a bakery for decades. She lost all interest

in sweets, except for angel food cake.

[EC]

25. Movie concession stand at 15

for .90 an hour...learned I liked working and earning money...also learned you have to be at work when you take a job - missed my first homecoming dance because I had to work...

[sinkingfeeling]

26. My first real job was in a supermarket. I stocked, priced, wrapped produce, and ran a cash register.

I was 14, had to get a work permit, and made $.95 an hour. I bought clothes and Beatle LPs. Paid for my gasoline at about $. 29 a gallon.

[Dappleganger]

39. That was our son's first job.

We couldn't believe they would hire at 14 but they did (bagger). They won't let anyone work in stock or produce until they are at least 18 (he's 17 now). Publix doesn't pay that well but they treat their workers right.

[slackmaster]

27. Box boy, local grocery store.

It taught me that I would never be happy living on minimum wage.

[BoneDaddy]

28. Working in an adolescent rehab

It taught me that boys and girls will repel out of third and fourth story buildings to have sex with one another. It taught me that I was getting paid crap to work with people who more often than not, no matter how successful they were inpatient, went back to old behaviors when returned to the environment they came from.

It taught me about my limits in tolerance, patience, forgiveness, and so much more. It is also where I met my wife, so I would go thru that trial by fire all over again if I had to.

[InvisibleTouch]

29. Self-styled "flea market booth" at age 9 or so.

I spread out a blanket at a shopping center with my best friend, and we put out little odds and ends for sale, toys we no longer wanted, etc. I don't remember how much we made, but we did sell a few items, got a few cents.

It taught me that I much prefer to work for myself, on my own schedule and on my own initiative, rather than being dependent on the whims of someone else. I like having my success or failure be entirely dependent on what *I* do or don't do; I can choose to work harder and smarter and thus do better, or I can choose to be lazy and do worse. It doesn't depend on a boss having a bad day, a company closing down, or a job being outsourced.

I've done lots of different jobs in my life, but I eventually came back to a repeat of that very first one. I still enjoy selling stuff, and I can't imagine ever going back to working for someone else.

[snooper2]

30. McDonalds, learned overtime can be good boost to paycheck..

(McDonalds located in House Springs MO off hwy 30)

Created new game called trash olympics

learned how not to feed your children who were already overweight

learned that being nice to the local po-po can help you out in the future (especially when you are pulled over by same cop for racing on interstate :) )

learned a bunch about HVAC from the full time maint. dude

learned that sex in the freezer on top of boxes of fries can be greatness

learned that the pay sucked ass so left and went to work at White Castle for about $2.50 more an hour :)

[gkhouston]

31. I was a clerk at an insurance company.

It taught me that there are people out there who will undermine anyone they perceive as a potential threat. The guy I was working for was great. Another person there--a woman who was not my supervisor, but a good deal higher in the food chain than I was (yeah, the bathroom mold was higher)--was a harpy and stabbed me in the back whenever she could. It made little sense to me, as I was just a teen-aged summer grunt, until I realized she felt threatened by the person I was becoming more than the person I already was.

[ensho]

33. baby sitting - I learned I didn't want to have a lot of kids

lots of work 24/7

so I only had 2 kids because way back then you were considered a bad mother if you only had one. one child gets spoiled, don't you know.

[HEyHEY]

34. DIshpig/prep-cook learned how to properly use cooking utensils.

Had a japanese boss and he was really into making sure we all used our knives properly

[woo me with science]

35. I worked in a retail store for a sexist pig.

It taught me to speak up for myself and not be a victim.

[riderinthestorm]

36. Golf caddy at 11 yrs old

Worked there 3 summers and learned that work is back-breaking (mentally and physically), that rich people aren't nice and aren't good tippers, that you need to suck up to the boss to get good assignments, that the heat is not my friend, and that having your own money is freeing.

As soon as I got boobs 3 years later, I lied about my age (said I was 16) and got a file clerk job. I was soooo happy to finally be inside all summer!

[lumberjack_jeff]

37. I was a grocery helper clerk (boxboy)

I learned to not cover for lazy people.

Only times I got in trouble were when I jumped in to cover for someone who wasn't doing their job right. When the boss came around, there was Jeff, doing a neglected/slow/poor task... which wasn't his job in the first place.

Don't do someone else's job. If no one is doing it, they'll look around to see who is responsible for it. If you jump in, it becomes your responsibility.

Haying doesn't count. The lesson there was not to ride on top of the haytruck with a stoner at the wheel.

[Matariki]

40. McDonald's. Lesson: never eat there.

[MedicalAdmin]

41. Where to start?

I can't remember a time when I wasn't working.

My first job was hunting gophers with my cat at age 8. I'd take the cat over to a neighbors house and show the cat the gopher holes. The cat loved me because I found it food that it could play with and the neighbors suddenly discovered that they LOVED having my cat come over to their yards. The upside was from $2 to $5 per job. The downside was live gifts from the cat. I learned about supply and demand from my mom. I discovered that the jobs had dried up because the cat was working for free. When I told mom she locked the cat in the house for about 2 weeks. Suddenly the phone started ringing and the jobs came back.

The next year I started delivering papers, a job I kept through high school. I knew half the people in town from the job. I learned to hussle like cool hand luke and then chill the rest of the time. I also learned which girls liked me. I had a reason to come over and visit and if the parents ever showed up I had just dropped by to collect on the bill and then we just happened to end up in her room discussing our homework. Good times.

At about age 12 I started stocking shelves at the local food store. I learned to be punctual and not to work too hard because the old guy I worked with didn't like me showing him up. I also learned that the boss really does care about his community. Too bad small stores like that have been beat into the ground by shithouses like Walmart who don't give a shit about anyone.

I got my first serious money working as a general laborer in the oil field in the summer starting at age 16. I learned that no matter how dirty a job could be, it could always get dirtier the next day. If you've ever been soaked head to toe in crude oil you know what I mean. I also learned that a 200 pound kid is not match for a 6 ton pipe. To this day I can't turn my back on pipes - those bastards are out to kill me - I just know it. I learned to work as a team and that safety is always job one - the working man has to watch his teams backs. We are all in this together.

I can't remember a time when I didn't have at least one job.

[Art_from_Ark]

42. It was either selling seeds/greeting cards

for some company that advertised in Boys' Life, or delivering newspapers.

The door-to-door sales job taught me that I did not want to be a salesman. The newspaper job taught me that I had to pay the newspaper company first before I could take my cut of the money I collected.

[closeupready]

43. McDonald's. I had worked odd jobs before then, but this was my first 'real' job.

I did learn some really, really valuable, important lessons:

1) That I am prone to procrastinate and let things go, and I need to firmly exercise self-discipline; and

2) Even in conservative organizations like McDonald's there are powerful, good, liberal-minded people. (Not saying McD's is good, bad, whatever - just saying this as a liberal.)