What was your first job as an adult? After 18 I worked 20-30 hours a- weeks in a work study at Penn State cleaning

[debm55]

Last edited Sun Mar 3, 2024, 02:07 PM - Edit history (2)

crap off of dishes for 2.40 per hour in the Dining Hall and went to school full time. After college. Worked in a city school in NW Philadelphia.

[CanonRay]

1. Claims Rep for Social Security

[debm55]

2. Thank you CanonRay,

[Walleye]

3. Photographer for a small daily newspaper, Dover Delaware.

[debm55]

4. Thank you, Walleye.

[Ocelot II]

5. Copy reader for a newspaper. It sucked.

[debm55]

9. TY Ocelot II, glad you moved on.

[Ocelot II]

20. I lasted only a few months; it was a terrible job.

I moved on to a whole series of terrible jobs that I didn't last long at.

[debm55]

25. Thank you Ocelot II Did you ever find a good job. I was too afraid to move on, and but up with the bullshit.

[Ocelot II]

27. Yes. A couple of pretty good careers, actually.

[2naSalit]

6. At 18 or 21?

At 21 I was repossessing cars and driving semis. At 18 - musician, factory worker.

[debm55]

10. Thank you 2naSalit. You had a lot of varied jobs.

[2naSalit]

12. Sure did.

[House of Roberts]

7. My first job was as a machinist in high school, after two years in tech school.

Since I continued working in that trade for many years, it was also my first job as an adult. When I was 23, I advanced into CNC machining, and worked at that until the pandemic retired me in 2020.

[debm55]

11. Ty House of Roberts. You were very good at the trade to have lasted that long.

[Rebl2]

8. Planned Parenthood

[debm55]

13. thank you Rebl2. did the job last long?

[Rebl2]

24. I started as

a volunteer/internship in last year of college for class credit. I stayed as a volunteer and then they hired me part time. Unfortunately in 1985 my rheumatoid arthritis got much worse and I quit because I had to have hand surgery and I needed to try to get my RA under control. It took a very long time and they understood my reason for quitting. I also didn’t want to be an unreliable employee. It was definitely a stressful job.

[debm55]

91. Thank you Rebl2. The stress could have added to your condition.

[Rebl2]

98. Probably so

Also got married that year in February. Thirty-nine years together with a very caring man!

[anciano]

14. US Air Force

[debm55]

16. Thank you anciano and thank you for your service.

[grumpyduck]

15. Architectural designer

at Digital Equip. Corp. In MA

[debm55]

17. Thank you grumpyduck. Was it a life long career?

[grumpyduck]

71. Pretty much.

I was trained in theatrical design, spent 15 years in architecture, and then back to entertaiment design including theme parks and TV.

[asiliveandbreathe]

66. Grew up in Walpole..moved to Framingham MA I know Digital Equip Co..

just up the road from Dad's Flying A Gas Station..way back when..

Timothy's, Timothy's Two..LOL

[debm55]

92. Thank you, asiliveandbreathe.

[keithbvadu2]

18. Textile mill. Stripping bobbins. Started the Monday after hs graduation.

Last edited Sun Mar 3, 2024, 06:28 PM - Edit history (1)

Cleared about $40 or $47 a week.
Paid my parents $20 a week for room and board. Same bed.
Saw that there was no future.

Five weeks after hs, I was in boot camp.

Six months before the draft would have grabbed me.

[debm55]

21. Thank you keithbvadu2 and thank you for serving our country.

[usonian]

19. Depends on what is considered "adult". As a youngster, some tutoring and this place:

And about that time!

I was then fully occupied with school, and then the service (USCG), so the first industry job was engineer at G.E. Aerospace, instrumenting small jet engines.

[debm55]

22. Thank you usonian and thank you for serving our country.

[malthaussen]

34. "Over 1 million served," lol. n/t

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

80. Probably a claim some attorneys would like to make. n/t

[debm55]

94. hahaha

[Basic LA]

23. Teletype operator

At RCA Global Communications Center in San Francisco.
I had just been discharged after returning from Vietnam in 1967.

[niyad]

79. Wouldn't the military service count first?

[Basic LA]

82. Now that you mention it.

Guess I was thinking civilian job.

[debm55]

95. Thank you Basic LA

[debm55]

122. Thank you for the job and the service to our country.

[Basic LA]

123. Thank you, debm!

[Rastapopoulos]

26. First job out of high school

Assembling pipe hangers in a steel mill. I was quickly "kicked upstairs" to the office where I was an inventory clerk.

[debm55]

96. Thank you Rastapopoulos.

[walkingman]

28. Worked in medical records at University Hospital while attending school.

[debm55]

43. Ty walkingman .did you go into the medical field.

[walkingman]

50. No, I am an electrical engineer but after graduating I considered going to Med School

because of the influence during those times but never did. The medical records job was the perfect job going to school. In those days it was all paper records and microfiche. I was a record clerk (worked the 3-11 shift) ...we would pull/file records and usually had enough time to study at work also. I met some wonderful people during those days (68-72).

Thanks for asking.

[mnhtnbb]

56. Me, too

at UCLA in 1973 between finishing my BS in March and starting grad school the following September.

But not my first job.

[debm55]

97. TY mntnbb

[sinkingfeeling]

29. Key Punch and Card Sorter operator at 21. Multiple things prior to that. Worked in small privately owned

grocery store at 16. Then a sales 'girl' at Lerner Shop. And a job keying data to magnetic tapes before my employer found out I was pregnant and fired me,

[debm55]

42. TY sinkingfeeling, That's a shame what happened to you when you were pregnant. Did you have a Union? Or was it done to

Last edited Sun Mar 3, 2024, 06:43 PM - Edit history (1)

all women,

[sinkingfeeling]

59. Perfectly legal in Ohio in 1969.

[Backseat Driver]

81. Yup, I wasn't even PG;

I worked FT in HR at an international engineering and construction firm as a secretary. I was let go six months before DH's and my wedding when the other two secretaries in the office decided they wanted the woman who left before I was hired and with whom they maintained contact also wanted to come back to work in the office. All of a sudden, after a year, I wasn't a good fit anymore - seems I broke up their great team, er, social ladies office club! Two weeks later, I was working at a bank...It's been quite a bareback ride for us, this adult work-force thing/anniversary thing ever since...BTW - 53rd wedding anniversary? - now THAT was work!

[debm55]

100. TY Backseat Driver. Congratulations to you and your hubby.

[Sailingdiver]

30. US Army

Army Radio Teletype Operator in the 82nd Signal Battalion.

[debm55]

40. Ty Salingdiver. did you carry that over to a full time job? Thank you for your service.

[jpak]

31. Vaccinating chickens at Decoster egg farms in Maine

$2 an hour, no overtime, 80 hours a week.

Yup

[debm55]

37. Wow, did you have any time for you? TY jpak.

[jpak]

44. Nope only whatever sleep we couldn't get

Ya see we had this Deeepresssion going on....

Lived in a company trailer with no electricity or running water.

Shat in the woods and swam in the lake like animals.

Yup

[malthaussen]

32. I guess you'd have to define "adult."

Using the definition "individual no longer in High School," then my first job as an adult was counter man for Sherwin-Williams Paints.

-- Mal

[debm55]

36. Thank you Mal. Did you pix the paints? Yes, anything over 18 would be an adult.

[malthaussen]

46. Yeah, among other things. There was a large binder with all the recipies...

... telling you how much of the four (or was it five?) tints to add to the base paint. We also did color matching, as in Mrs Doe brings in a sample of her drapery, and we tried to mix a paint that would match it. One got a feel for it after awhile.

-- Mal

[True Dough]

33. In my younger years,

I modeled for posters that debm and Niagara put on their walls.

[debm55]

35. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHa, Ty True Dough,

[Niagara]

67. Oh my coffee!

I'm scrolling through the replies and I'm gently sipping my coffee.


And there it is! The reply that made me laugh my ass into a tizzy!!!





Disclaimer: My coffee is fine, I didn't spit it out or anything like that.

[True Dough]

73. I won't quit

until I know your coffee is all over the table, the floor, your clothes, etc.!!!

[Niagara]

74. Hahaha!

[Niagara]

75. Self-delete. Duplicate post.

[DFW]

38. A somewhat primitive version of the same job I have now

I graduated college in 1974. I hung around Philadelphia (where I went to school) for another year, earning my living playing music around town and getting to know outfits in my eventual field. In the summer of 1975, one of those outfits said they wanted someone new, who knew the field, had language skills, was willing to travel, and had a good work ethic. I said OK, but with the proviso that I could travel to Europe on a regular basis, as I had met this fabulous German girlfriend that I didn't want to lose. They said, sure, if i could make it work.

I made it work. Now, over here, it's not just me. I'm not responsible for London, but I keep a very loose eye on our autonomous operations in Holland, Belgium, France, Germany and Switzerland, and frequently travel elsewhere, especially Spain.

This year marks my 49th year with the same employer. We were 12 (or so) barely 20-somethings in the beginning. Now, we are upwards of 700 worldwide.

Some claim my different-country-every-day schedule will kill me eventually. I note that it hasn't killed me in 49 years, and I'm sure that boredom would kill me quicker.

[debm55]

48. Congratulations to you DFW, To last at a job for 49 years is great.

[DFW]

53. Not a typical situation, I'm well aware

Not too many employers will tell a 23 year old, “you have skills we could use, and few have. Make sure you do well, and we’ll let you make up your job as you go along, always have the CEO’s direct dial number, set your own travel schedule, take as much vacation as you want, and pay you enough so you won’t want to work elsewhere.”

I never wanted a McMansion in a gated community in Beverly Hills or Lear jet, so the offer was pretty much one I saw no reason to refuse—not then, not now.

Oh, and by the way, that “German girlfriend” and I celebrate 50 years together this summer. I don’t know if I should be considered loyal, lazy or just “a creature of habit.”

[debm55]

99. Congratulations to you and the wife.

[DFW]

115. Congratulations especially to me

For finding a woman willing to put up with me for 50 years!

[niyad]

39. First after high school, DoD office staff. First after college, legal editor

McGrawHill.

[debm55]

49. Thank you niyad your jobs sound very outstanding.

[niyad]

78. Those were not even the really interesting ones!

[Deuxcents]

41. Long distance Operator for AT&T. Had other jobs but stayed with AT&T for 30+ years

Was gonna quit many times but was able to move around with different job titles

[debm55]

51. Ty you Deuxcents. Thirty years with AT & T is a long time. I taught for 42 years. Many times wanted to quit , Mostly

because of the principals ,not the students. Hung in there. Good for you

[yellowdogintexas]

45. bank teller in Cambridge MA

Now I did have a dinky part time gig in college - dorm receptionist
I don't consider it a real job

[debm55]

138. Ty, yellowdogintexas. Have you looked for a different job?

[yellowdogintexas]

144. That was in 1969-71!! I ended up in the medical insurance business, as a claims analyst

There were a few other side tracks, but most of the time was insurance.

[debm55]

146. Thank you, yellowdogintexas,

[PJMcK]

47. A&R executive at a music firm

My job was to interface with the contracted writers, scout new talent, get recordings and oversee music publications.

The boss was terrible. He was grumpy, moody, contrary and snarky. If I did the opposite of what he told me, the project would succeed,

Still, he gave me a decent job and over ten years, I learned a lot, experienced even more and got prepared to be independent. I’ve been solo since the 1990s and I’ve survived many industry purges as I wasn’t beholden to a corporation. Sadly, I’ve seen a large number of talented people get cast aside. (It’s really hard to get back into the music business!)

We had a great office in NYC’s Rockefeller Center and my window looked out onto the skating rink. During Christmas, I had a perfect view of the huge tree! I made some important contacts, developed several professional friendships and that job helped me survive a divorce by providing structure to may daily life!

[debm55]

153. TY, PJMcK. What a great post.

[PJMcK]

163. deb, you pose such interesting queries! (N/t)

[debm55]

168. Thank you. PJMcK.

[enid602]

52. Edie's

Was a server for ‘Edie’s Gourmet’, a caterer in Pasadena. Always loved the name.

[debm55]

147. Thank you, enid602

[WheelWalker]

54. Program director at university in health education,

developing drug abuse prevention instructional programs and materials for K through 12 teachers.

[debm55]

148. WheelWalker, Ty

[TexasBushwhacker]

55. Worked at a brand new department store

There I was, 18, and they put me in the draperies department. I ended up really liking it and took a gap year, much to my mother's dismay. They even promoted me to department manager. I thought I was hot shit. Then they moved my boss (area manager) to another area and hired a woman with a college degree to replace him instead of promoting me and I had to train her. That's when I came to my senses and went to college.

[debm55]

150. Ty TexasBushwhacker. That's a shame that that happened to you.

[TexasBushwhacker]

164. It all worked out for the best

Nothing is as motivating to go to college as a shitty job!

[rsdsharp]

57. My first full time job would have been as a disc jockey and music director at a top 40 FM station.

I worked all through high school in a meat department of a small grocery store. By my senior year I was working about 30 hours a week.

[debm55]

154. Thank you rsdsharp. What a change of career.

[rsdsharp]

173. Well, after that I sold jewelry, then went to law school, and practiced law for 33 years.

[LoisB]

58. Accounting Clerk at Fairchild Aerial Surveys for $1.65 per hour.

[debm55]

61. Thank you , LoisB, How long did you last. I thought mine was bad at 2,40

:

[LoisB]

63. I lasted a year. For me at that time, $1.65 was like a gift from heaven. I think that was minimum wage.

The "good old days".

[brush]

70. Seems a crime they got away with paying people so little back then.

[LoisB]

84. True however,

Last edited Sun Mar 3, 2024, 08:43 PM - Edit history (1)

Adjusted for inflation, $1.65 in 1964 is equal to $16.38 in 2024. CA 2024 minimum wage is $16.00 so in effect, they are still getting away with it.

[mnhtnbb]

60. The summer after I graduated high school

I worked as a nursing unit clerk-- day shift 7 am-3pm--filling in for people taking vacation at the local community hospital. I worked most of the floors: med/surg, ortho, ob/gyn and the ER.
I did the same job for the next two summers between my freshman and junior years at college.

[debm55]

62. TY mnhtnbb. That was alot to expect from someone your age. You must have been very good at your job.

[mnhtnbb]

111. I had a record number of volunteer hours

at the hospital from the age of 16 until I graduated high school, so a lot of people knew me.
I was thrilled to get the summer job after high school. It was 1969. By 1972 I didn't want to leave Los Angeles to go live at home during the summer, so that was the end of that job. But the Nursing Director wrote a wonderful recommendation for me to get into grad school at UCLA --in Hospital Administration -- so all those early hours of being at work by 7 am and weekend shifts where I ran up and down the back stairs to work two floors in one shift paid off.

[debm55]

113. Congratu;ations. mnhtnbb.

[Bayard]

64. After high school,

I moved to Minneapolis, where my sister lived. Got a job at Pickwick International, a music record distributor, as a shipping clerk for $2.50 an hour.

[debm55]

157. Ty Bayard. At the time, we thought it as alot , but we worked alot for that 2.50 an hour.

[asiliveandbreathe]

65. My senior year in HS..started as telephone operator, New England Telco..

On to Directory Asst. we actually manually changed info when info changed tel. numbers, etc..hand written for dir asst. operators..on to dial bureau, assigning tel. numbers..then on to Installation dept. After graduation..that summer I worked at the Framingham MA Motor-in on week-ends on the cordboard..1 person position..yep 2 jobs..just for that summer of 64'.

Retired from AT&T in 1998..30 years..too many more jobs within company to mention..last job, after transfer to AZ.. a researcher, developer, delivery (instructor) in Education..also learned during this time, how to create CBT..computer based training .
Wonderful career..oh, did I mention my three kiddos..(in the years 66,68,69 ) LOL..

[debm55]

161. TY asiliveand breathe. You had alot of varied jobs.

[umroman]

68. determined the sex of (dead) mosquitoes

Made slides of the lady-parts.

[debm55]

90. Thank you umroman. That's a different job.

[Niagara]

69. I'm going to give several answers due to the fact that I paid for my own car at 16 years old.

I waited tables at 16 and it wasn't long before I had enough money to purchase my first vehicle. Even though I wasn't legally an adult, I still had to pay for my own vehicle repairs, maintenance, fuel and insurance.


I need to clarify that I had money saved up from allowance, odd-jobs and babysitting for purchasing my first vehicle. I wasn't rolling in the money waiting tables. I did okay once I started though as long as I wasn't stiffed.



My first job as an 18 year old was a manufacturing job. I started off as part-time, graduated high school and eventually became full-time. For a non-union job I made decent money, had decent health insurance and it wasn't a filthy manufacturing job. It would have been so much better if we had a union though. I had that job for 12 years.

[debm55]

89. Thank you, Niagara. My teaching job wasn't Union either. Twelve years was long in the manufacturing business.

[mike_c]

72. carrying heavy things

[debm55]

88. TY mike_c

[Pepsidog]

76. Landscape laborer during summer breaks from college and law school. First real job after law school county prosecutor

Last edited Fri Mar 8, 2024, 07:09 PM - Edit history (1)

[debm55]

87. Thank you Pepsidog.

[kimbutgar]

77. I worked for a title company recording real estate transactions

Learned about how real estate is transferred and all the legal paperwork involved. I had the job for three months and then quit annd moved out of my city and went to junior college in the suburbs. Near the end of my freshman year, I visited the company and asked them if they had any jobs. They hired me for the summer and for the next four years I worked my schools breaks and summers. Helped put me through college. I was able to pay my own tuition and buy my books. Of course this was before college became unaffordable. A semester cost me $125 then at a state college. The only help I got from my parents was my housing. I will be eternally grateful for that nice title company . They also offered me a job after college as a title officer but I ended up taking a job with Merrill lynch in the Municipal Bond department.

[debm55]

86. Thank you kimbutgar. Wow, your career had a great ending.

[Demovictory9]

83. Cafeteria worker in college dorm, hotel housekeeper,

[debm55]

85. Thank you Demovictory9

[Mr.Bill]

93. My first job when I was 18 was one that

I started at 16. It was at a Deli inside a grocery store. The grocery store didn't own it, it was a concession. I washed dishes, cooked rotisserie chickens and ribs, and restocked all the food behind the counter. We sold macaroni salad, potato salad, etc. I did that for the first few hours after school, then the other person went home and I worked alone until we closed at 9:00. We ran the whole place with just three people, myself and two adult women. I worked around 25 hours a week.

The really fun part was we also sold pizza by the slice. Twenty five cents for plain cheese and thirty five cents for pepperoni. It was pretty crappy pizza. We used pre-made crusts, sauce from a can and grated frozen cheese. You may be thinking what was fun about making and selling crappy pizza? We had one of the first microwave ovens, an Amana Radar Range. When you bought a slice, we re-heated it in the microwave. I really think most people bought it just to see the magic of it being heated up in seconds. So I can literally say I have been cooking with a microwave oven for over 50 years. I made $1.65 an hour.

[debm55]

140. Ty Mr. Bill great post. It's a shame you made so little for all the work you did.

[Mr.Bill]

142. Well, I was only a high school kid living at home.

I did have a car I paid $250 dollars for, but no car payment. I cleared about $25 a week in my paycheck and back then $5 on a Saturday was enough to put a little gas in the car, take my girlfriend to a movie and to the A&W after the movie. At the time I felt like I was doing okay.

The other thing I liked about the job is I was off on Fridays and Saturdays. I was out with by girl cruising on those nights while most of my friends were working at a fast food joint for the same pay.

[Mme. Defarge]

101. A sales clerk

in a cigar store. Then I went to Morocco where I had a brief career as a nightclub singer, and lived to tell about it!

[Aristus]

106. Please! Tell us about it!

[Mme. Defarge]

107. About the cigar store?

[Aristus]

108. No! Nightclub singer in Morocco! How has no one ever done a movie about that?

[Mme. Defarge]

109. It was 1968.

Stay tuned. . .

[Aristus]

110. I'm looking forward to it.

[Mme. Defarge]

117. Since you asked. . .

I had just finished my junior year at Portland State and had been accepted into a study abroad program offered by The Experiment in International Living - affiliated with the Peace Corps - sponsoring a full year of study at Mohammed V University in Rabat. It was during the height of the Viet Nam War when university students went on strike in various countries protesting the war, including at Mohammed V. As such the five American students in my group were unable to register for classes or even sign up for student housing. Hoping the strike would end sooner rather than later, the remaining four in my group, including moi, decided to rent an apartment together. One member had already left in frustration. After about a month and no change in the situation, my three roommates had started thinking about heading for home. Then one night, before any travel plans were made, three of us went to dinner at an Italian bistro, popular with Americans and Europeans, and where diners were entertained by a brilliant jazz guitarist. I was so enchanted with his music that I decided to approach him about working with a singer, no doubt emboldened by the two glasses of sangria I’d had during the meal and firmly convinced that nothing would come of it. Mais, au contraire! The next afternoon I returned to La Mamma, auditioned for the guitarist, and started performing that evening and six nights a week after that. He did a lot of wonderful jazz solos, and I sang American favorites - mainly from the forties and fifties, in addition to songs in French, Spanish, Russian - some I’d learned from listening to Theodore Bikel albums, but nothing in Italian(!). We were invited to play at parties hosted by various diplomats living in Rabat. In December all of my roommates had returned to the States, and in early January, the guitarist and I left La Mamma and Rabat to perform nightly at the newly opened nightclub in the Hotel Mamounia in Marrakech, living in housing provided for the hotel staff with meals prepared by hotel cooks and served in the staff’s dining room. By late January I had really started missing home and feeling more than a little vulnerable so far away from anything familiar, and arrived back in Portland on Valentine’s Day.

And in case you wanted to know, the movie rights to my as yet unpublished mystery novel featuring a fictionalized version of this story, have yet to be assigned.

[Aristus]

119. I would watch the HELL out of that movie!

Who would play you?

What a remarkable story, chere Madame...

[Mme. Defarge]

134. Merci!

[doc03]

102. Graduated high school in 1966, started working at AT&T for $2.10 an hour in Arlington Va in

August 1966. Worked there a little over 1 1/2 years then got drafted in the Army. I hated living in the city,
when I got out of the Army the steel mill was hiring so I moved back to Ohio and worked in the mill for 40 years.

[debm55]

158. Thank you doc03, I lived near a steel mill ,too. They paid much better. Congratulations on your 40 years.

[jmowreader]

103. My first job as an adult was in Army Intelligence

My first civilian job was as a photographer at a Glamour Shots store. I cannot imagine actually having my photos made there; everything was super rushed and the cosmetics they use on you will play hell on your face when you try to get them off. Then someone in Southern Pines, NC, hired me to make negatives for offset printing, from there I went to a printing plant in Fayetteville to do the same thing...and....well, I've been in the printing business pretty much ever since.

[debm55]

171. First of all, thank you for your service to our country, jmowreader. You have had a varied and unique career.

[dai13sy]

104. My First Job

was working as a waitress at the Dairy Queen on the University of Oregon campus

[debm55]

169. TY dai13sy. did you get freebies?

[Aristus]

105. I joined the Army at age seventeen. So, the Army.

My first job after I got out of the Army at age twenty-four was working in a bookstore. It was then that I learned the ugly truth of being in the American work force. "Just get a job and work hard, and you will be able to meet all of your basic needs." What a crock of shit. My employer, a national mall bookstore chain, refused to let me work a full-time schedule. I could rarely get more than thirty-two or thirty-three hours a week. I didn't know at the time that they did this so that they wouldn't have to offer me a benefit package to go with full-time hours. No medical, no dental, no sick time, no vacation time. Nothing.

I was very good at the work. I spent a lifetime reading up to that point, so I knew a lot about almost any literary genre someone might enter the bookstore looking for, and I could take them right to any particular title or author on the shelves. I thought for sure that when Christmas rolled around, and work demands would go up, that they would give me full time. Nope. They just hired a bunch of warm bodies who didn't know shit about books, and gave them all shitty, part time hours.

It didn't take me long to see why some people, even if they seemed ill-suited for a military career, stayed in the military for twenty years. The sacrifices one makes in service to the country are worth it because of the benefits that go with it, medical and dental care, free housing and meals (if you're un-married and living in the barracks), and so on.

It was a long, hard slog to get where I am today, and I only accomplished it because I had a lot of help from a lot of people. But despite my economic security, I haven't forgotten, and will never forget, the ways in which corporate America keeps pounding the living shit out of working people in order to cram more money into their own pockets. I will always come down on the side of working people.

[debm55]

116. Excellent post, Aristus. My late FIL was a Marine lifer. The family moved around alot but had excellent money and

moved around alot but they were still buying things at the Military store way after he retired. PS Thank you for your service.

[Mme. Defarge]

118. With regard to your work experience in the private sector -

all of the above while dancing backwards in high heels! It's why I eventually decided to get an M.S. degree in Management to help me make a career move into H.R., with a goal of making work better for people. I gave it my bet shot as head of H.R. for a local financial institution, and then moved on to a human resources consulting company to top off my career before retiring as soon as I could afford it. Since then I have, off and on, occupied myself working on writing a mysteries series featuring a human resources consultant encountering murder and mayhem in the workplace. Because, why ever not?

[Aristus]

135. I've never danced backwards in high heels. But I'm willing to give it a try, if you want me to.

[Mme. Defarge]

136. Okay, so I lied

in order to make a point about sexism in the workplace in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s. Please don’t try it! As for my dancing skills, not so much. . .

[Aristus]

139. I knew what you meant, and I'm sorry you experienced that.

[Mme. Defarge]

141. Like you,

I did change jobs a lot during the early part of my time in the workforce, and was able to do that because early on in my marriage my husband and I agreed to build up our savings for our “go to hell” money. As they said back in the day, “You can take this job and shove it!”

[Emile]

112. US Navy as an adult.

In highschool I worked at Steak-n-Shake, IGA grocery store and a Chinese restaurant as a dish washer.

[debm55]

114. Thank you Emile. You are a very hard worker. thank you for your service in the military.

[LudwigPastorius]

120. Technically, I was paid as a musician before working some regular jobs in college.

But if we're talking about steady, show-up-every-day jobs, it would either be warehouse worker, or assembly line. I can't remember which I did first.

Jobs before that, from 15 to 18 years of age, were bus boy, dish washer, oyster shucker, and fry cook.

[debm55]

121. Thank you Ludwig, you had a varued of jobs.

[LudwigPastorius]

124. I did, and they each taught me a very important lesson.

...that I didn't want to do those jobs for the rest of my life.

[Old Crank]

125. Worked making mobile homes

PArt of and assembly line. I was off to the side and made cabinet doors, put weather weather stripping, putty, on the windows and doors, and did the rolling and jointing of the aluminum siding. Rarely touched the product on the line.

[debm55]

159. Thank you Old Crank. We had a mobile home plant near to us that made Scottie Trailers.

[FalloutShelter]

126. Ma Bell- as a directory assistant.

Looking up phone numbers eight hours a day in a small booth lines with giant phone books.
No computers… old school.

[debm55]

170. Ty FalloutShelter, that would have made me go bonkers.

[MenloParque]

127. At 18 my first job was with UPS. They offer tuition reimbursement that paid from my college tuition.

After classes and studying I worked for 5:00pm -1am M-F. My parents, myself and my kids all worked full- time and earned a bachelors degree simultaneously.

[SARose]

129. Dictaphone typist for a credit bureau

Seventeen years old and Dad said if you want spending money at college get a summer job. My cousin’s husband was District Manager for a credit bureau and offered me the job for a whole $1.60/hr. For that princely sum I was allowed to type field notes and autopsy reports 8 hours/day. Our youngest grandson (17) started working at a local tourist attraction for $17.50/hr. lol

[debm55]

133. SaRose, Ty . Yes, pay was very low. I worked the summers at the local Penn State branch campus. It was 2.40 per hour. I

got no help from family on college, books, spending money, or housiing , as they didn't think college was important.But I did , as you have.Congratulations to you.

[debm55]

137. Great post, MeniolPerque. TY.

[-misanthroptimist]

128. As an adult...US Army

But I started working when I was 12.

[debm55]

132. Thank you for your service, -misanthroptismist. You also have a long time.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

130. Graduated high school age 16. The summer after graduation

I was a nurse's aide at a small nearby hospital. Sub minimum wage job. Went to college for a semester, dropped out, did some temp work, then full time at the local credit bureau. Six or so months later went to work for Ma Bell as an information operator.

I also rented an apartment on my own at age 17.

[debm55]

131. PoindexterOglethorpe, you have a long and varied work experience. TY

Last edited Thu Mar 7, 2024, 11:28 AM - Edit history (1)

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

143. I also was an airline ticket agent for ten years,

did some Christmas retail jobs, did three brief paralegal jobs, worked in an art gallery for two days (and then was fired for having "unbridled exuberance" ). But wait, there's more! Out patient registration and then the information desk at the local hospital. Yep, I've done a bunch of stuff.

[debm55]

167. PoindexterOglethorpe.. Thank you, and yes, you did have a bunch of stuff.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

172. Thank you.

The down side is that I never had an actual career of any kind. Just a bunch of jobs. I often say I never had a job that was better than not working.

[OldBaldy1701E]

145. The Lost Colony.

Got a part because I was doing another play that was being presented on the grounds. (I turned 18 right before LC production started for that year.)I got to talk to the producer and he told me that they had already had auditions for the year but he would grab a picture and keep my information as they always had dropouts. One week later, I got a call. I managed to get one of my favorite roles that first year (which I played for all three years I was there), as I had been going to this show since I was around 8. It was the high point of my career, which is sad when you think about it, but my time there was always great.

[debm55]

149. Ty OldBaldy1701E. It sounds wounderful

[limbicnuminousity]

151. Biochem/Mol Bio lab flunkie

Had so much energy then putting in 16-20 hour days, 7 days a week with no overtime because the work was engaging. Spent a few decades doing that, it was therapeutic in many ways.

[debm55]

156. Ty limbicuminousity, That was a lot of work you did.

[pfitz59]

152. Wilderness Trail Crew

Building and repairing trails in the Trinity Alps Wilderness. Wonderful summer.

[debm55]

155. Ty, pfitz, What a wonderful job.

[DemMedic]

160. After I dropped out of school and before I enlisted

I worked for the parks department in my town on Long Island.

[debm55]

166. Ty you DemMedic and thank you for your service to our country.

[Wicked Blue]

162. Dining hall at Rutgers-Livingston College

Did that for almost two years.

But earlier I babysat, worked at a stationery store and a bakery, and spent a summer as a mother's helper taking my godmother's kids to the beach.

[debm55]

165. TY Wicked Blue. Dining Hall work was crappy. I worked in the Dishwashing area.