What was your first job?

[Miss Neecerie]

My first job was at the Cheese Cellar in Santa Anita Mall......

Making cotton candy and trimming the mold off the bits of cheese.......oh and cash register...

My god the uniforms were a hideous brown.....but I still know how to make cotton candy

 

[Woanzenagi]

First Jobs

My first job ever was as a caddie at a private country club. No "Caddyshack" jokes please. It paid $6 per round plus tip. Tips were usually only a dollar or two.
My first full time job was a construction/landscape laborer.

 

[G. Fink-Nottle]

My first job was making patio block and car bumps (the long cement blocks found in parking lots) for a friend of my father. It was hard, miserable work. Each day there was worse than the previous.

It made me realize how difficult manual labor is and that I never wanted to do it for a living. I also developed a lot of respect for those that have to do it. There is a lot of dignity in honest manual labor.

 

[Cousin Hepcat]

Root, your description of your first job & TP lobbing was a riot!! lol lol lol Man, you oughtta do 40s-style standup.

MINE: Would've even been a great golden era job: at around 15, I worked at a concession stand at the ball park, for the Durham Bulls (at their old location). Miss Neecerie, I got to make cotton candy too

It was GREAT. The fans were so mellow and understanding too, especially the time I was making a new batch of the fresh lemonade and forgot to throw the latch on the blender lid before flipping the switch. It was right up there on the front counter where people wait in line... Va-VOOM! Free drinks on everyone! lol

Course I was more soaked than anyone, so we were all laughing at each other. I had to be sure not to make any sudden moves the rest of the day though because of the bees

Swing High,
- Cousin Hepcat

 

[FedoraGent]

My First Job

So, first you guys are going to think "Oh so white collar..." but my first job was being an Administrative Assistant for a school. It was a small school but it was fun.

Jon

 

[imoldfashioned]

My first job ever was as a sales girl in a bakery. We had to wear chef jackets and hats and I was utterly embarassed anytime my friends stopped by (although I did get asked out on my first date in that outfit, so it wasn't all bad). I had to use a bread slicer that I swear must have dated from the golden age with no safety features whatsoever--I'm amazed I didn't lose a hand. My first "grownup" job was as a bookseller in an independent bookstore which led to being hired as a marketing assistant for a children's book publisher.

 

[Sachet]

During my senior year in high school, for the first time ever, the Illinois school system offered a program called Experienced Based Career Education. (Fortunately, similar programs are common place these days, because it's a great way to learn something about a career before heading off to college.)

I was able to choose three places to observe/volunteer in order to get behind-the-scenes hands on experience and received full classroom credits. I chose the small local zoo, a riding stable and a veterinarian. I learned that llama's may look cute but they have a nasty habit of spitting if you annoy them. I also learned that I love to ride horses in the snow on a crystal clear winter morning, and that the trade-off of cleaning stalls and grooming the horses was worth every single second.

I was at the veterinarians the longest amount of time and was completely fascinated by the multitude of animals that come in and the staff's ability to help them. Therefore, I was tickled pink that when the course ended they offered me my first job.

 

[Lady Day]

Waitress at Denny's!

Because my mother would not let me get a job till I was out of my first year of college, I came late to the job scene. Man, I made $2.12 plus tips. It sucked, I rarely had time to wash my hands, and the people were gross.

LD

 

[ITG]

I worked concession at AMC Theatres. It was the most fun of all the jobs I've had. We would stay after on Thursday nights and watch the new releases for the next day at midnight, get to take popcorn home in clean trash bags (mom loved that popcorn and it was better the next day).

 

[Doctor Strange]

I was put to work in my folks' little mom and pop commercial photography biz from a very early age - by the time I was 10, I was holding reflectors and moving lights, loading 4x5 film holders, developing b/w film, drying prints, opaquing litho negatives; soon I was going on location shoots and doing fine printing too. I continued with this throughout high school and through the summers of my college days, as well as squeezing in some paying gigs as a magician and working as an aide in our temple religious school...

My first non-photo job was working for a small outfit that imported and wholesaled Asian antiques, but I was soon back in the graphic arts - doing computer typesetting, maintaining litho cameras and Kodak Ektaprint copiers, running a Kurzweil Data Entry Machine (an OCR that you could train to read any typeface, in order to make data entry for stuff like reprinting books go faster). I finally got into tech writing in 1982, and that's been my regular gig since...

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

My first job ever was as a sales girl in a bakery. We had to wear chef jackets and hats and I was utterly embarassed anytime my friends stopped by (although I did get asked out on my first date in that outfit, so it wasn't all bad). I had to use a bread slicer that I swear must have dated from the golden age with no safety features whatsoever--I'm amazed I didn't lose a hand. My first "grownup" job was as a bookseller in an independent bookstore which led to being hired as a marketing assistant for a children's book publisher.

My first place of employment was also a bakery. We did have to wear chef jackets, but luckily no hat. It must be a tradition to have an ancient bread slicer in all bakeries, for we had one too. I once gave my mom a tour of the bake area, and she was horrified at the equipment I had to subject myself to. But, it was a good job in that I learned to bake. To this day I still love to. Our kitchen is filled with every type of bake wear imagineable. We also have a soft serve icecream maker and a cotton candy machine! I have one of the larger cabinets designated as my bakeing cabinet, filled with all types of stuff that I use to decorate cakes, cookies, cupcakes, I make homeade chocolates. Tim has come home to find me covered in flour and homeade buttercream, with piles of cookies that take me all day to ice. Hey, I never said I was good at it, I'm just saying I love to do it. All this because I spent one summer in a Jewish Bakery.

 

[The Reno Kid]

Here's how old I am. My first job was pumping gas. I actually checked people's oil and tire pressures. Yep, kids, they used to do that. lol

I never got a snazzy uniform, though. I ain't that old! lol

My first job was also service station attendant (with heavy emphasis on service). We washed the windows and checked the oil on every single car that rolled in, no matter how busy we were. We would also ask the driver if they wanted us to check the tires, battery, tranny fluid, cooling system, etc. In addition to this, I sold, mounted, balanced, and repaired tires; did lube jobs and oil changes; plus I performed some minor mechanical work. It was absolutely glorious. I still look back on it with fond memories. If I closed the station at night, I would count the money then put it in a hevy canvas money bag with the credit card receipts and take it to the owner's house (very high security). I didn't think anything of it at the time but I shudder a little when I think of it now. If it was a busy day, I might be carrying several thousand dollars. I was 16 or 17 years old. I actually did get a uniform, although it wasn't all that snazzy: a light blue, short-sleeve, cotton broadcloth shirt with a Chevron patch and darker blue trousers. No cap though.

 

[magneto]

I was put to work in my folks' little mom and pop commercial photography biz from a very early age - by the time I was 10, I was holding reflectors and moving lights, loading 4x5 film holders, developing b/w film, drying prints, opaquing litho negatives;
...

My first job was in a photo lab, but I didn't get to do any of that fun stuff ...Just manning the front counter, running C-41 and E-6 film through the machines, and taking people's passport pics.

 

[RetroModelSari]

The first job after my education was typing numbers in a computer for a mobile-phone company. I did that for 2 weeks and it was driving me insane to do this 8 hours a day. Almost immediately after that I was secretary for a lawyer while his actual secretary was on vacation.

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

My first job was also service station attendant (with heavy emphasis on service). We washed the windows and checked the oil on every single car that rolled in, no matter how busy we were. We would also ask the driver if they wanted us to check the tires, battery,

Wow, I had forgotten all about checking the battery. Years ago, they had little caps which you removed to check the electrolyte level, and if it was low, you topped it up with distilled water from a neat little dispenser designed to prevent overfilling. I'm trying to remember the last time I did that, and it's making my head hurt.

 

[Wild Root]

Man Tony, my father told me about those devices that they used for dispensing water into the batteries... when did they stop making those kinds of batteries? I know 6-volt batteries made today are still that way! I remember before I got my Optima, I had to check my water levels... that was fun in some ways but, I'm so happy with my Optima dry cell 6-Volt... it has the amps I need to start that car!

=WR=

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

I last remember seeing new 12V batteries with the individual screw on caps in the late 1970s. I think our new 1976 Datsun pickup still had 'em.

 

[Absinthe_1900]

I got my pilots license just before I got out of High School, so when I graduated, the FBO where I flew, offered me a job that summer working the flight line, keeping the light planes gassed, oil checked etc.

Our FBO at Hobby Airport, had no hanger so the summer sun & concrete, ended up cooking my pale self to the color of a lobster,.... at the end of the summer I got a friend to take my place.

I then went to work as a professional model maker for an architectural firm, and have stayed out of the sun since then.

 

[MissMissy]

My first job was making boxes. I worked for International Paper on a machine called "The Ward" which was at least 15 years older than I am. I loaded stacks of corrugated board (not "cardboard"!) into the end of the machine and watched the sheets go through making sure nothing got jammed. I still look back and can't believe I actually did that. It was kinda dangerous and I worked the graveyard shift with a bunch of dirty old men.
Two good things came out of it though, One-I was able to buy my first home at just 18 years old. Two-I met my husband there, he was a regional executive and was in the plant every few weeks. As soon as he proposed I quit. About a year after we got married we were spotted together and the cat was out of the bag but it didn't much matter then since I was long gone.
This was my first and only job outside of the home. I have been a homemaker ever since leaving when I was 19 years old. My chosen career as Mother and Wife is much more demanding physically, requires me to be on call 24/7, and I even take my work with me on vacation! I of course would never trade it for anything.

 

[Novella]

I did some babysitting and worked at a daycare, but my first actual paycheck job was when I worked full time during the summer as a receptionist at a doctor's office when I was 15. I answered phones, kept up the schedule and files, did data entry and handled money. I still have trouble believing that I was that young when I did all that! I haven't had a job yet that's beat it though, I'm currently stuck in retail hell, although I have a heck of a lot more respect for sales people now than I've ever had before. Luckily the job I have now is just temporary for the summer - is it fall yet?