What was your first job?

[The Annoyed Man]

OK....not counting odd jobs performed for neighbors, etc., the first REAL job I ever had with a real paycheck was right out of high school. I worked as a warehousman for World Vision Int'l at their old headquarters in Monrovia California. It was the summer of 1970.

Edited to add: I was 17 (not to turn 18 until October of '70), and the pay was the California minimum wage of $1.65/hour. Even back then it seems like California was ahead on the cost curve.

[Songbird]

Swensen's Ice Cream Parlor in Odessa, $2.10 an hour. Couldn't stand ice cream for a loooong time!

[Dan20703]

At 16 yrs old I worked in a die casting factory, owned by a friend of the family. Learned quite a bit, such as driving a forklift, inspecting the castings, casting machine repair and maintenance, electronics, hydraulics and the proper way to cuss.

[eureka40]

Busboy/dishwasher at the Bonanza Steakhouse. I earned $1.45/hr and a ribeye steak for dinner every night. Back then, the ribeye dinner came with a baker, Texas toast and a salad for $3.57!

I did that too, back in 1970 something!!

But my first paying job was a paperboy on a bicycle for the San Antonio Light. Had a Schwinn Stingray like this one:
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And those canvas saddle bags.

[mescobar_rpls]

McDonald's...Working there pushed me to go to college.

[cheezit]

working in a supermarket for $3.10 an hour

[urnoodle]

My first job was the summer after I graduated from high school. I worked in guest services at a ski resort. The wage wasn't great (3.35/hr) but the tips and ski gear made it all worth it.

[Carry-a-Kimber]

My first paid job was when I turned 14 at Angelo Burger Company here in San Angelo. I worked there 40 hours a week until the day I graduated 4 years later and went off to boot camp.

Sounds like Angelo Burger Company needs to brush up on the federal labor laws.

My first job was stacking sod on the back of a havester at a grass farm. At $2.13 a pallet we could make about $20/hr. Bad part is we only typically did 20 pallets a day on school days and 40 on non school days and at most 100-120 pallets a week.

[snatchel]

My first paid job was when I turned 14 at Angelo Burger Company here in San Angelo. I worked there 40 hours a week until the day I graduated 4 years later and went off to boot camp.

Sounds like Angelo Burger Company needs to brush up on the federal labor laws.

My first job was stacking sod on the back of a havester at a grass farm. At $2.13 a pallet we could make about $20/hr. Bad part is we only typically did 20 pallets a day on school days and 40 on non school days and at most 100-120 pallets a week.

Several of the members here worked from a younger age than I did. There were special circumstances that required supplemental income in my family, and my older brother and I did what we could to help keep us afloat.

You are quick to say that, sir, but I assure you the owners of that restaurant did our family a favor by allowing me to work.
My family and I did what we had to do to ensurethat we didnt become welfare/govt handout burdens that would have come out of your checkbook. 14 or not, it was the right thing to do.

They don't run a business anymore, but I am still good friends with them. They are godparents to my wife & I. Please don't be so quick to judge.

[JeffInDFW]

On air radio DJ at 14. No kidding. I had grown up with my bedside radio as my best friend. I'd sit for HOURS at night and go up and down that AM dial seeing what far off radio stations I could find. By the time I was 14, I started driving the local radio station owner NUTS to give me a job. I would ride my bicycle up there every Wednesday after school and sit in the lobby. He avoided me like the plague, but the other DJs thought I was the coolest kid EVER and taught me everything! Finally, they started bugging him, and to shut us all up, he hired me at 14! Within 3 months, he moved me to the 7pm to Midnight show! I'm now 45, have been doing syndicated radio for 20 years, and have never had any kind of a job that was not as an on air DJ. First salary was $3.35 per hour.

[steveincowtown]

My first paid job was when I turned 14 at Angelo Burger Company here in San Angelo. I worked there 40 hours a week until the day I graduated 4 years later and went off to boot camp.

Sounds like Angelo Burger Company needs to brush up on the federal labor laws.

I must be missing something here. What labor laws? In Texas I believe you can work in some occupations when you are 14.

http://www.twc.state.tx.us/ui/lablaw/cllsum.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


My first job was also at age 14. The state where I lived required a "Work Permit" signed by your parents to work under the age of 16. I worked on a gas dock filling up boats that were passing through. At $3.75/hour in 100 degree heat it wasn't a great job, but the occasional $100 tip from folks whose boats took on 1000+ gallons of fuel made it well worth it.

[brentski]

My parents got me a hardship drivers license and I worked a brick mason's helper for $2.00 per hour. I could drive to work and school when I turned 15.

[Keith B]

First real job was working at my Uncle's gas station a few hours on weekends when I was 12. I would pump gas, clean windshields, check oil, and just general tasks at the station. I even fixed a few flat tires. Next, I had a paper route for a couple of years from 14 to 16. At 16 started working at a sporting goods store (athletic sports and golf equipment) Also worked part-time as a DJ at an easy listening radio station (hated the music, but loved the work.) At 18 I got a job with my present employer. Have been there 34 years.

For those of you that think you can do math, you can't because 18 + 34 =39.

[OldCannon]

When I was 13 (75 or so) I started working as a "trap boy" at a Rod & Gun club. Back then, the trap machines had to be loaded manually, and the trap houses were small, cramped, and hot. Perfect for an overeager 12 year old boy It was kind of fun until you had a bird break apart when the arm triggered, then clay shrapnel flew EVERYWHERE inside that tiny cinder block room. You also had to put the birds down carefully on the arm, in case the puller pressed the button too early *ouch*.

I made enough money my first week ($20) to buy a bolt action 20ga Mossberg, which I used to shoot skeet.

Yes. Skeet. Bolt Action Shotgun.

Some old vet from WW2 showed me how they trained with their Springfield 1903's in basic training (this was before they mass-issued Garands), how you could use your pinky on the trigger while keeping your thumb and forefinger on the bolt. He said some guys could shoot as fast as people with semi-autos. Took me a little while to get it down, but then I started becoming something of an attraction ("Watch this kid shoot doubles with a bolt action shotgun!"). It didn't always work well -- bolt shotties don't work as smooth as a bolt rifle, but it was fun.

Good times.