Work

I was reading about a celebrity (and now I can't remember which one) but in the column it talked about all the different places the guy worked before he became famous. I found it pretty interesting and surprising. I decided it would be fun to blog about my own work history not counting any allowances I may have "earned" from my parents. So here goes.....

• My first paid job was babysitting. I was only a kid myself....4th grade, so I don't think I was very good at it. Let's change that to I know I wasn't good! I remember talking on the phone, watching TV and eating the peoples food. I don't really remember much about the kids, in fact, I don't think I could even tell you their names now. I babysat for extra cash until I was 15 years old.
• In 5th grade a friend of mine and me decided to go next door and ask her creepy neighbor, (whose grass was up to our knees)if he would pay us $10 each to mow his yard. He agreed. It took the both of us the whole dang day to do it~He spied on us out the window the whole time. That was our first and last lawn job.
• When I was 15 I got a job at the amusement park World's of Fun. I worked in the African section in a toy store. My job, kid you not, was to play with the toys in the store. I would walk a puppet around, bounce a ball or have a fake snake around my shoulders and just talk to the customers. I think my boss was only 16 or 17. It was a really fun place to work. Very, very low pay $2.65/hour- that was less than minimum wage at the time. Missouri didn't have to pay min. wage if you were under 16 years old. I got to sale t-shirts for some of their concerts. In fact I watch Eddie Rabbit preform 4 times in one day. Some of my friends worked there too and their jobs were operating the rides. After hours they would let us on the roller coaster and run it without stopping several times. The park would also have parties for the employees and show movies and have free food. It was a really fun place to work! Those were the days.
• I worked at McDonald's for about 2 months. I HATED it! My older sister had already worked there for 2 years and when I came along everyone was so mean to me. I call those my Stevie Nicks days. I would have to go clean the parking lot often and guys would cruise through and holler "Stevie!". Of course I took that as a compliment but it was the perm- very in style in those days....
• I worked for a telephone soliciting company. That was a hoot! Hang up! Hang up! Hang up! We had a script we had to follow or get fired. They would listen in~ No matter what the person said, we had to keep on going with our script. The hang ups were ALWAYS a blessing!!!!! My friend Kendra always drove and we were always late. They didn't seem to care too much about that. ha.
• I worked at a clothing store called 579 shop. I don't remember how long I worked there- several months, maybe a year. I learned 2 things there. I learned to count back change ( a dying art), and I learned that one day when I grew up, I would have a magical steamer that got all the wrinkles out of clothes in one fail swoop.
• Sometime after that I worked at Sears. I stayed there for many years. I worked in men's clothing and shoes. I would put together whole outfits for men of all ages and now my husband won't even let me pick out a shirt for him and he hates all the ties I buy him. Go figure! There must of been some horribly dressed men walking around in the 80's. I worked with some good people and made some friends. It was fun but didn't pay the bills when my son came along.
• My 1st "big" job (one that paid MORE than minimum wage) was for a corrugated box plant. I was hired in as the billing clerk. I could write so many blogs about stories in that place. It was fun at times, torture at times, tiring at times and down right ridiculous at times! I wore many hats and had many titles while I was there. I met life long friends & a couple of boyfriends too. I lied to get the job and told them I knew how to 10-key. I had to learn fast! Guess no one knew or they just let me get by- I was the youngest person working there until I quit 8 years later to become a technician. The day I got the job is a special story that I will have to share sometime.
• "What's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?" I also waited tables in a bar for a couple of months to earn extra money to pay off a hospital bill. That taught me to tip well. Did you know that at the end of the night the waitresses have to tip out the bartenders, no matter how crappy their tips are for the night AND if you did not tip out your bartender they would make your drinks really bad so people would complain & not tip you well. I knew this going into it because my brother's girlfriend got me the job but there were some nights I only worked 2 tables and made about $6 in tips and was expected to put money into their bowl too. Plus the "veteran" waitresses would steal your tables and your tips any chance they got. I absolutely hated that job. Mostly because it was a bar- I bet restaurants are not so cut-throat....

I think that about sums it up. I hope I'm not forgetting anything. Nothing real exciting but maybe a few surprises here or there. I can say~to date at least, that I've never been fired so I've been lucky and I've never had to go without work.

Work: it can be a blessing or a curse.