First Job?

JDMeister

JDMeister

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Let it all hang out.
I'll start.
During school, newspaper route. (Not really a job.)
After High School, I was hired by Pittsburgh Paint company.
I was a lab assistant in a inorganic lab, testing paint formula
by grinding a sample to the spec and mixing and painting
a board, placing it on the roof for weathering. Interesting job.
I learned a lot. The "Mill" that reduced the ingredients to the
small size required, was interesting also.
Later I moved on to bigger and better jobs.
 
Started working at my uncle's fence company at 15. 30 years later, still doing the same shit...
 
Before my first "real" job I was always hustling, mowing lawns, washing windows etc. but first job was at Taco Bell (1984) back when they made everything in house. I was 14 and had to get a work release from high school due to my age so only allowed to work certain hours and it was piece work pay, I was paid by how many trays I filled frying all of the Taco Shells, Tostada Shells, Flour Salad Bowls, Nachos etc. They totally abused the work hours, so I totally abused the tray limits and always maxed them out....I was getting paid, so I didn't care.....later moved up to Drive-Thru!!
 
My first job wasn't much of a job.
My Old man would stop every morning at this 7-11 right down the street from the apartment. He would get his coffee and talk to the owner for a few. Well at the beginning of summer he tells the owner he needs to find a part time job for me to "keep me out of trouble". So he offers a solution to the problem
So everyday for two hours I am to go to the 7-11 there on Jackson and Fletcher Parkway to stock the cooler, price change, dust the shelves and anything else they need done. For the services I would get a Big Gulp and $2.00 each day.
I would get up head down there work for the few hours till my buddy would show up with our beach gear, grab my drink and $2.00 and jump on the 80 express to Pacific Beach for the remainder of the day.

Got my first job and it didn't really help with the staying out of trouble thing considering almost every day I would end up at the beach hanging out, BY th end of summer I saved zero money, but it was one hell of a summer vacation
 
11 years old bussing tables at a mexican food restaurant. $2/hr and % of waitress' tips. Plus food. Was a pretty good gig.
 
Janitor at my high school, it was the perfect job…. Summer work full time, part time while in college…. 8.50 an hour when minimum wage was around 6, could come in and get my stuff done anytime between 1500 and 0630 the next day. Worked 2 hours a day during school year and got paid for 4 anyways. It was awesome! Had keys, alarm codes and everything so i could do it late at night if practice ran late…. Was a good time!
Also had a couple driveways I would shovel/snowblow when it snowed.
 
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Another paper route here with some occasional lawn mowing and shoveling driveways. Then it was bucking bales of hay at 7 cents a bale (fuck that), weeding beans (fuck that too), de-tasseling corn (and especially fuck that). By 14 it was a couple season of discing/plowing and unlicensed running a dump truck and plow, dumping salt and plowing gravel roads for my cousins road district when the phone rang. The first actual real gig not BS manual labor was a full service station out on the edge of town. Then Western Auto. Then bagging groceries and stocking shelves at IGA... that was all before I graduated and got the fuck out of town.
 
Paperboy for the Register. I had 2 routes and lived on the route. Then Knotts Berry Farm at the Chicken dinner restaurant. That was a great job for last year and a half of high school. Then I got into grading and later earthwork inspection. Still at it.
 
Newspaper route (AZ Republic)... those jobs suck. Then usher at the Plaza Theatre, Then, Del-Boy at Lujano's Pizza....best job that I ever had. 50 bucks on a good night, as HS boy could chase a lot of girls w/50-$100 on a weekend.
 
Mowed lawns when I was 12-16, then at 16 I was a pool man for a summer, I also detailed cars. then got a job in the Mall at Don's Toy's and Hobbies!
$3.35/hr.
Worked that job all through High School, I was pretty much in charge of the Skateboard, RC Cars and Model Train section.
Was a fun job except during holidays. Christmas Eve was the worst. We close at 6 there were always some dumbass parents in there scrambling to get their spoiled kid something.
I still detailed cars all the while.
 
I went from Mr. Peanut to making trophies to working at Straw Hat pizza for my junior and senior years in high school....That was the best job EVER....food, booze, and then delivery.....made 100-350 a NIGHT in 1983....that was great money....cash....no taxes.....
 
Paper route here too.

Cleaned and stocked the catering truck (roach coach) for a guy down the street and a few other stupid jobs.

First W-2 job was Colonel Sanders. Only took it cause I liked a girl that worked there! Once I realized she didn't care if I lived or died (in about 2 weeks) I quit.

First real job was a parts driver at Valley Auto Supply. I made around 2 bucks an hour, and had my own apartment, a 67 Mustang, and a Kawi triple working minimum wage!

When I got paid on Friday, I went straight to the bank to cash my check, and then to The Hat for a cheese burger, chilli size and cherry coke.

Life was So fucking good!!! 😎
 
First real job was right out of HS working for the HS as an aide who taught the AutoCAD summer school class. Then went on to being a drafter with a low voltage contractor. Been drafting since 1991 from paper boards, leroy lettering then to AutoCAD Ver8 DOS when the HS got a CAD lab.
Plenty of unofficial jobs from 6-17yrs old working for parents hollow metal door company, etc....
 
Radioshack! You had questions, I had .... a blank stare lol. This was in the end of days in early 2000's where it was just about pushing cell phones. The bin of diodes and stuff was a black box. I wish I spent more time actually learning instead of watching the TV's and fucking off though
 
Always reminds me back in the 70's, my parents would send me to my grandfather's shop during the summer. Way too young to be around the machinery and Grampa got increasingly tired of trying to find things for me to do. One day he had me dismantle a stack of pallets and remove all the nails. Burned up a few days and came back in and told him that I finished. He had a big job running through the shop and just didn't have time. With a hint of frustration, looked at the stack of pallet slats and pile of nails. Okay he said now go straighten out all the nails, and that was the rest of my summer...lol.

My first legit job was the typical teenager job... McDonalds. The only thing that I really remember taking away from the job was customer interaction. Specifically, I paid attention to the difference of how people would place their order. Me," may I take your order." Would they start with " I want...." or would they start off, "yes, I'd like...." Really gave me an education on how to greet people in any type of service industry.
 
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1994. A position was created at the local Quarry (Wyroc) for me to Pressure wash the Heavy Equipment for the Mechanic to be able to perform repairs on the Loaders, Scrapers, Dozers and even the little Bobcats. At the end of the day, we would re-fuel, grease and clean out the radiators so everything was ready the next morning. I was also responsible for taking scrap to the Bone Yard for the Welders, with the Bobcat... all before I had my Driver's License and rode a clapped out dual sport dirtbike illegally, to work. They also allowed me to take scrap wire and recycle it for extra cash.
 
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