Okay, in honour of LOVEULOTS17LOV who just got her first job, I thought it would be interesting to say what our first jobs were!!!

I'll start....

Other than the obvious babysitting gigs, my first "real" job was at 17 when I got a job at a short lived fast food joint called "Frisco Jacks". It served sourdough with different toppings (not dessert like toppings....but real meal toppings....like chili etc). I was soooo embarrassed when I started working there (it was in an upscale mall to boot!) as I had to wear this BIG ol' BRIGHT RED chef's hat with a matching apron...and sometimes they made me stand out in the mall with a tray of freebies to lure the customers in.....

It taught me a lot though and I met a lot of great people!!! However, it also told me that I would never have a career in the food prep or food service industry!!! LOL

I worked at the Macaroni Grill singing Italian Arias and Opera at 14... lol that is, until they realized how much they needed silverware rolled...

The tips were good, and I was paid more than a hostess. $7.00/ hr In fact, until last summer, I can proudly say I never worked less than that... I only work in the summer, except for workstudy at college. So thats good!

When I was 15 yrs. I saw an ad in the paper for a local church that was looking for an organist. They interviewed me over the phone & never even thought to ask my age. I started working that Sunday & they were all quite suprised when I walked in & realized that I was a kid. They paid me $100 a service. I ended up working for 3 different churches every Sunday. I made $1200/month & never really worked!! I enjoyed every minute of it. I also learned a lot about different religions too.

When I went to college I found more churches in that town that needed organists & it paid for everything I needed in college. I had the best job in the world!!

I'm still at my first job. I work at CVS pharmacy. i have been there since i was 14, so a little over 5 yrs. I am starting a new job though as an OR cordinator at the local hosp. I can't wait to quit CVS but i think i'm gonna keep both jobs for like a month to see if i like the new one then quit CVS. My boss will be soo surprised because he thinks i will stay there while i am in college, in fact he just offered me a promotion but i am soo ready to move on.

These are all so kewl....!!! Keep 'em comin'!

I worked at a hamburger stand on the beach! 3 small hamburgers for $1.00. I started the year between 8th and 9th grade. A good friend worked with me and we had a good time visiting. It was 48 hours a week, which suited me fine. My home life stunk, I couldn't drive, and I was on the beach! The hamburger stand blew away in 1980 Hurricane Allen...

Shawn

I got my first job at 16 mucking out stalls in a stable. I loved it and the perks that went along with it i.e. free riding and lessons! It was definately hard, hard work.

I first started gaining weight after I quite that job and switched to a fast food joint!

My first job was cleaning house and doing dishes for a handicapped woman when I was 12, I started out working with my sister and then she passed it on to me. My first "real" job was at age 16 working in a resturant in the kitchen. started out as a dishwasher and eventually became the head cook. I quit when I was 22 to go work in a factory so I could have weekends and holidays off. Oh to be back where weekends off was my biggest problem!

I want to play! Cool idea for a thread Yoda!

I did the - leaving school early - thing too.. called Distributive Education back then. Actually got my job referral from the program.. prospective employers knew where they could find cheap help and the only way to get a good grade in the class was to be a good employee.

The week after I turned 16, I started working as a "mail sorter" for a small independent company... we had drivers who would pick up mail from businesses who contracted with us (electric co, insurance co, etc) and bring the mail back to be "pre-sorted" by zip codes; bundled up, placed in trays, and taken to the Downtown post office by 9 PM deadline. In the beginning, the operation was in an old un-airconditioned house!! WHEW ~ in Houston TX!! We finally moved to a regular office complex, I ended up staying 3 years!!

I love all the different jobs you guys!! Leona & Diane, it's awesome that you were able to put your talent to use!

Karla

Just like NJChick, my first job was cleaning a beauty parlor (along with all the brushes and combs, too) when I was 14 years old. I can't remember the pay, for sure, but I think it was about $5.00 a week!!!

Age 12, my mama used to call me when the dishwasher didn't show up at the place where she was a waitress. Later, she had a local coffee shop on the courthouse square, guess who got to be counter help?? Wasn't long til I spent the summer after my 9th grade year actually cooking in the local drive in where my best friend was the car hop. Bought my first 10-speed then. I too, was a DE student, I thought I was moving uptown when I got an early job at the local lumber yard, dusting shelves and sweeping floors, then went to the local tax office to draft sq footage of local homes for the tax appraisals. That and babysitting in the evenings helped me buy my first car. 1969 Ford Falcon 4 door, in 1976. Hardest $600 I've ever paid for!

That's a long way away from Ross Perot and living in luxury hotels.. Funny thing is, I sometimes miss the more simple times.. often, actually...

My first job was a waitress at Howard Johnson's. I worked part-time while I went to beautician school and high school at the same time. The hourly pay sure sucked, but the tips were great, especially after a foot ball game.

From 15 to 17, I worked Saturdays, Sundays, Public and School Holidays at a place called Rainbow Park. It was an indoor kid's amusement park - with rides like dogems, canoes, ferris wheel, jumping castle, chair swing, minigolf etc. It was a pre-cursor to the indoor play centres we have everywhere nowdays.

Pay was $25 for 5 hour shift (not bad for those days). The place was staffed by an army of us kids, plus one young manager and occasionally the owner too. You had to be at work at the end of the day to get your name into "the book" before everyone else did, so you could work the next shift, or else you missed out getting any more work...

They used to do birthday parties - up to twelve on any day. :happybday:Plus it was open to the public. That's a couple of hundred kids all running around high on junk food:hungry:. At least four or five kids would puke or pee somewhere every shift, which we had to clean up (gross!). Some kid would be sick or pee on the jumping castle nearly every shift. You learned pretty quick not to step onto the castle to clean the sucker... LOL!

We all loved going on the rides after hours etc, and lowering our minigolf handicaps in the quiet times. I learnt to drive a dodgem car standing up pretty good too! We also used to get free ride tickets for Moomba (a Melb. festival) and the Royal Melbourne Show, which made us popular with our school friends...

I loved working on the canoe ride the best:fish2:, although it did give you a sore back by the end of the day from leaning over and lifting kids in and out of the boats. The Water was full of bloo loo - it stank and left blue grime all over everything. Despite these drawbacks, it was good because it was up in the back corner of the warehouse, and you could do your own thing. It tended to be quieter than the other rides, giving me more time to practice on the mini golf!

I worked at the concession stand selling shaved ice and hotdogs at our country club when I was 15. Once I turned 16 I took cpr and first aid and got to lifeguard. Much much better. I think I made like $5.50 an hr doing the concession and $6.50 lifeguarding. Back then I thought I was rich...

~Liz~

03/10/06

241/175/160

5'7''

My first job was at 17. I worked in a retail store called Gipson's (pre-Walmart). My job was to keep clothing bins and racks neat, and to watch for shoplifters. I didn't mind folding the same bras and underwear a hundred times a day. I didn't mind picking clothes up off the floor and rehanging them. I didn't mind locking and unlocking the changing rooms. I really really hated watching people to make sure they were not shoplifting!