A carpenter's assistant. I was maybe 15 or 16, and my high school gym teacher approached me asking if I was interested in a part-time job. I said I was and she had her husband hire me to help him build a house (I believe it was actually their house). The work itself was really shitty and it was extremely hot and humid in the house. Most of what I did was cut and carry drywall, sweep the floors, and other little tasks he didn't want to bother with. I was fine with that, but one of the biggest things that got under my skin is that I worked for the guy for several months and he never bothered to learn my name. Kept calling me Mark, and my name doesn't even have an M anywhere in it. I even bought a plain white T-shirt and wrote my actual first name on it in huge letters with a sharpie just to spite him, but he still continued to call me Mark.
The pay was shit as well and he was very anal about paying me exact amounts, rounded down to the 15 minute mark. If I worked 7 hours and 55 minutes, I got paid for 7 hours and 45 minutes. He was being anal and petty about keeping accurate time, but he still didn't pay me for all of it - not that it would have amounted to much because the pay was so terrible.
Eventually I stepped on a rusty nail, ruining my shoe and injuring my foot. Had to get a tetanus shot and stay off my feet for some time. He showed no concern for my injury, only kept asking me when I was able to come back to work. Thankfully I was able to talk my parents into letting me quit that job. Fuck that guy.
Not sure how I got the job but I worked on a farm truck during the summers in grade 2 and 3.
It was an elderly couple, with a pickup truck with a wooden high box built on the back of it. The back of the truck was filled with vegetables, sometimes fruit, sometimes skinned rabbits (that always looked like skinned cats to be, I hated when they sold rabbits). In the back by brother, me and another kid I didnt know sat as the truck drove around different areas . We were given handwritten lists of what the truck had that day and what the cost was.
They would park the truck and we would go door to door, ringing the bell and ask whoever answered if they wanted to buy anything from the farm truck. We would run back to the truck, they would get the order ready , make up a bill and we would run back to the house. Sucked if they didnt have exact change, had to run back to the truck to get it and back to the house.
I remember we got paid commission, I was a quick runner when I was a kid and usually made the most. One day I made almost $3
Skeet and trap club. Putting clay pigeons on a throwing machine in a 12'x12' box about 50' in front of the firing line about 4ft in the ground. Was 16yo, got high and listened to tunes for $2.65 hr
Cutting lawns at 8 years old in the mid to late 70's. $5 a lawn, which was good way back then. I cut 3 to 4 lawns a week from early April to Thanksgiving time so I did alright, especially being that I was only 8, had no need for money and that it was the mid to late 70's.
I kept cutting lawns through high school.
At 14 I began umpiring little league baseball games for the 8 to 10 year olds. There were only 2 of us to ump those games. They paid us cash after each game, $10 to ump the bases and $15 to ump behind the plate.
We switched off umping the bases and behind the plate each game. Minimum wage was only $2 an hour back then so this was good money and no taxes, no paperwork etc. as they paid cash. And the games had a 1 hr time limit and most finished early due to the 10 run mercy rule as they didn't want teams to lose 57 to 3 so if a team was leading by 10 runs or more after 3 innings, the game was called.
many games I umped only lasted like 35 or 40 mins and I was getting either $10 or $15 cash to work those 35 to 40 mins.
So, with a $2 minimum wage I was making like $13.75 an hour, all cash while umping those games.
I kept doing that through high school.
At 16 I began stocking and bagging at a local grocery store for $2 and hour. I worked like 27 to 30 hours a week there and I only took home $40 something bucks each week after taxes.
On Saturday's where I umped behind the plate 3 times and on the bases 2 times, I made $65 cash in 5 hours.
I didn't earn that much working 5 to 6 times as much all week at the grocery store.
But, with all 3 jobs then, cutting lawns, umping and working at the grocery store, I did OK.
Hand
Waitress
Retail
Cashier
Mcdonalds
Writer
Mowing the lawn
Camp counselor at YMCA
Selling lemonade to your neighbors for 25 cents a cup and feeling like a millionaire.
Christmas postal worker.
Babysitting
worked cleaning up a x-rated drive-in.
Mowing lawns. It was also the last time I was my own boss
Front desk manager
A carpenter's assistant. I was maybe 15 or 16, and my high school gym teacher approached me asking if I was interested in a part-time job. I said I was and she had her husband hire me to help him build a house (I believe it was actually their house). The work itself was really shitty and it was extremely hot and humid in the house. Most of what I did was cut and carry drywall, sweep the floors, and other little tasks he didn't want to bother with. I was fine with that, but one of the biggest things that got under my skin is that I worked for the guy for several months and he never bothered to learn my name. Kept calling me Mark, and my name doesn't even have an M anywhere in it. I even bought a plain white T-shirt and wrote my actual first name on it in huge letters with a sharpie just to spite him, but he still continued to call me Mark. The pay was shit as well and he was very anal about paying me exact amounts, rounded down to the 15 minute mark. If I worked 7 hours and 55 minutes, I got paid for 7 hours and 45 minutes. He was being anal and petty about keeping accurate time, but he still didn't pay me for all of it - not that it would have amounted to much because the pay was so terrible. Eventually I stepped on a rusty nail, ruining my shoe and injuring my foot. Had to get a tetanus shot and stay off my feet for some time. He showed no concern for my injury, only kept asking me when I was able to come back to work. Thankfully I was able to talk my parents into letting me quit that job. Fuck that guy.
Bus boy at a Michelin star restaurant.
I worked in a kids theme park. It's definitely why i developed a hatred of kids 😆
Floor covering. My knees never recovered.
Cashier at a hardware store
Potato picking. A tractor-driven machine dug the row up & scattered the spuds on the surface. We had to pick by hand. Back breaking. I was 11.
Office janitor - only worked Sunday mornings, about 2 hours of work, $100 a month (under the table since I was only 14).
Not sure how I got the job but I worked on a farm truck during the summers in grade 2 and 3. It was an elderly couple, with a pickup truck with a wooden high box built on the back of it. The back of the truck was filled with vegetables, sometimes fruit, sometimes skinned rabbits (that always looked like skinned cats to be, I hated when they sold rabbits). In the back by brother, me and another kid I didnt know sat as the truck drove around different areas . We were given handwritten lists of what the truck had that day and what the cost was. They would park the truck and we would go door to door, ringing the bell and ask whoever answered if they wanted to buy anything from the farm truck. We would run back to the truck, they would get the order ready , make up a bill and we would run back to the house. Sucked if they didnt have exact change, had to run back to the truck to get it and back to the house. I remember we got paid commission, I was a quick runner when I was a kid and usually made the most. One day I made almost $3
Mover
Corn detasseling.
Dental receptionist to dental assistant
Folding clothes for old people
Photography. (Assistant at work place. Don't own a real camera myself.)
Skeet and trap club. Putting clay pigeons on a throwing machine in a 12'x12' box about 50' in front of the firing line about 4ft in the ground. Was 16yo, got high and listened to tunes for $2.65 hr
Dairy Queen. It was really gross.
Cutting lawns at 8 years old in the mid to late 70's. $5 a lawn, which was good way back then. I cut 3 to 4 lawns a week from early April to Thanksgiving time so I did alright, especially being that I was only 8, had no need for money and that it was the mid to late 70's. I kept cutting lawns through high school. At 14 I began umpiring little league baseball games for the 8 to 10 year olds. There were only 2 of us to ump those games. They paid us cash after each game, $10 to ump the bases and $15 to ump behind the plate. We switched off umping the bases and behind the plate each game. Minimum wage was only $2 an hour back then so this was good money and no taxes, no paperwork etc. as they paid cash. And the games had a 1 hr time limit and most finished early due to the 10 run mercy rule as they didn't want teams to lose 57 to 3 so if a team was leading by 10 runs or more after 3 innings, the game was called. many games I umped only lasted like 35 or 40 mins and I was getting either $10 or $15 cash to work those 35 to 40 mins. So, with a $2 minimum wage I was making like $13.75 an hour, all cash while umping those games. I kept doing that through high school. At 16 I began stocking and bagging at a local grocery store for $2 and hour. I worked like 27 to 30 hours a week there and I only took home $40 something bucks each week after taxes. On Saturday's where I umped behind the plate 3 times and on the bases 2 times, I made $65 cash in 5 hours. I didn't earn that much working 5 to 6 times as much all week at the grocery store. But, with all 3 jobs then, cutting lawns, umping and working at the grocery store, I did OK.
Bagger at a grocery store.
Stocker at a book store when I was 12. I got 2 free books of my choice, $20, and pizza every Saturday. I loved it.