As in under 18, legally employed and paying taxes and all that.
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I started working as a cook at 14
I walked to the restaurant close to my house, told the first person I saw “I want a job, but I don’t want to work with people”. They stuck me in the kitchen and taught me everything. Did that for 14 years.
Lied about my age to work in a grocery store, which was funny as they gave me keys to an Audi stick-shift and told me to do donut runs every morning. I didn’t even have a license. I did learn fast and mastered a stick, as well as saw my manager fuck my classmates.
under 18 (OP)
saw my manager fuck my classmates
Hah, that’s awesome. How many times did you stall the car trying to get out of the parking lot?
Exactly once, while the owner was watching on my first day. But before he could say anything I zipped off and discovered just how fast an imported Audi can be.
Lifeguard at 16
It’s kinda odd, because in a lot of ways it’s still the most serious job I’ve ever had.
Also the least paying job I ever had. But when it was slow I was basically getting paid to do homework or do laps, and you were so bored you’d actually do it. $60 paychecks felt like such a luxury for something that fit nicely between school and sports.
Idk adjusted for inflation I was making $20/hour lifeguarding in 1999. I’ve worked for less since. And worked a lot harder for it.
This was for minimum wage in 2004 at 5.15/hr and 6.15/hr if we were teaching lessons.
How often did you actually have to step in?
Had to jump in and put a kid back on a wall during a lesson, closest I had to doing an actual save. Also had to call 911 once, but it was for someone out of the pool. This was over a three year period, but it was a pretty small pool.
But doing lessons there were countless times where you’re righting kids floundering or helping people back to the wall, but you’re already in the water and it was very hands on. Or you’re a second guard and sitting on the wall observing the lesson/keeping an eye on the rest of the pool. The lowest level of swimmers especially, you’re probably having to make a few assists a class.
Surprisingly never had to do anything at a birthday party, but they were the worst simply because you’d just get a lot of wildcards you don’t know and there’d be a lot to watch. The vast majority of our time was spent watching over regulars so it was pretty relaxed with regards to having to feel out the swimming ability new faces all the time.
I fought criminals in hand-to-hand combat and lived in the sewers. We all survived on pizza and had deadly weapons and training. Also banged a reporter.
Left school at 16, got an apprenticeship as a electronics technician.
Repairs in a PC repair shop in the 2000’s. Loved it. Was paid in pc parts which was just fine for me.
I have a really odd history of jobs… First job was installing multi million dollar home theater systems, then did a summer renovating a house(paint, refinish floors, install kitchen appliances, built 3 closets, moved a wall, replaced all windows and doors) , did 4 years as a corporate network administrator, 10 years laser welding medical devices, 4 years as a manufacturing technician, 2.5 years as a software engineer…yeah it’s an interesting resume…
You did all this as a teenager? Impressive
Everything up to the laser welding was as a teenager.
Telemarketing selling newspaper subscriptions. Pumping gas (I’m old). Counter clerk at a dry cleaners. Grocery store bagger and cashier. Telemarketing again selling cable TV movie channels.
Scooping ice cream and making milkshakes, baby!
Was your yard filled with boys?
Duh, they had milkshakes!
I mowed lawns as a younger teen and worked at a local pizza place at 16.
As a side note, I remember coming to the realization that I actually had some money after a few weeks of mowing lawns. I was fortunate enough that my parents covered living expenses, so my pay could all be spending money for me. I of course knew that working = pay, but the first couple times you have a couple hundred bucks in your pocket that you can spend as you please is a liberating feeling.
every teenager should work in the fields (agriculture) at least once. i did picking fruit. 10/10 would recommend. touch grass, vibe with plants
I worked the potato harvest in north Dakota for a lot of years. Cold muddy work. Definitely “built character”
I never picked fruit until I went to a U-Pick. Spent two hours picking blueberries. The benefit was that I was going to eat it. But the thought of doing this for weeks straight sounds rough.
- mowing my parents lawn
- Christmas tree lot - salesman
- Best Buy - cashier
- Best Buy - Customer service
Well, it wasn’t quite legal since I was paid in cash under the table, but my first job was washing dishes at a restaurant when I was 16. First job I actually paid taxes for, didn’t get one of those until I was 20.
I was a teenager back in the 80’s.
My very first job was a paper route and I absolutely hated it.
Second job was at a nursery/garden center, that also had a pool center. This job I didn’t mind so much. I learned a lot about landscaping and plants in general. I actually became knowledgeable enough that at the age of 17 I designed several landscapes, even one large job that was the HQ for a Japanese car company. Fast forward 20 years and my wife and I buy a house and my wife has always dreamed of having a yard with tons of landscaping. So I dusted off my skills and built multiple beds across our property. Today we have a yard that is mostly very mature beds which bloom continuously throughout the growing season.
