What was your first job?

[Tank]

I worked at a small Italian restaurant in a strip mall by my house. I wanted to make some extra money besides my allowance to buy my mom a decent Christmas present. I was 13.

I intended to be a busboy but that lasted one whole day. I ended up also doing some light janitorial work on occasion but the owner actually taught me how to cook. It was a blast and I learned a ton about being responsible and doing my job well. I made $2.50 a week in 1973.

[Lou]

You should demand reparations.

[Crampknees]

$2.50 a week?  Back then I worked at Lockheed at night running the floor polisher in the business offices.  Forget what I got paid. That was my first punch the clock job.  Spent later high school days working for a contractor for $10 an hour under the table digging ditches, back about 1973.  By the time I graduated high school I could already fix and paint cars so went right to a body shop. They need to teach trades again in schools. 

[mtangelsfan]

First job was sitting outside in a parking lot in downtown Seal Beach making sure only customers were parking there.  2 bucks an hour under the table 

[Redondo]

I worked at MacDonalds in 1972 for $1.35 an hour

Milk shake maker was the first step, then french fry cooker and finally I made it to the counter.

[tdawg87]

Pizza place. Not exactly a "kitchen environment" but it still had that stressful urgency and tension about it. Made subs occasionally too. I think I got $7.50 an hour plus tips, but the tips were from the tip jar and usually amounted to a couple bucks a shift.

Not bad for a first job. You get a lot of different kinds of experience working in the food service industry. Not something I'd recommend for anyone unless it's their absolute passion.

[Justin]

Installing sprinkler systems.  After the El Niño rains in '98, my grandmother - whose property was a half-acre, one half of which was wild canyon - asked me to upgrade her sprinkler system because her fire insurance was going to go up a ton without a new system.

Several of the neighbors were so impressed with the job my best friend and I did, they hired us to do the same for them. It was great; we ended up being employed for the entire summer, the money was good (great for teenagers, actually), and we could make our own hours, which meant we took extra-long lunch breaks at Home Depot every day because we both had a massive crush on the girl who worked the hot dog stand in the parking lot. I wonder if she still thinks of me the way I think of her. Probably not. 

[T.G.]

I cleaned ovens on a military base the summer before my senior year of high school making $1.70 an hour. 

[Kevin]

First real job was the beginning of my senior year of high school in ‘02. Longs  Drugs (think it’s called CVS now) making $8.00 an hour. Lot of my classmates came in buying beer and of course I checked their fake ID before ringing them up.

[tdawg87]

59 minutes ago, Kevin said:

First real job was the beginning of my senior year of high school in ‘02. Longs  Drugs (think it’s called CVS now) making $8.00 an hour. Lot of my classmates came in buying beer and of course I checked their fake ID before ringing them up.

[tdawg87]

1 hour ago, Kevin said:

First real job was the beginning of my senior year of high school in ‘02. Longs  Drugs (think it’s called CVS now) making $8.00 an hour. Lot of my classmates came in buying beer and of course I checked their fake ID before ringing them up.

I didn't know you were only a few years older than me. 

No wonder you're probably the most intelligent conservative here.

[tdawg87]

Just now, cals said:

What about Jason?

How old is he?

[arch stanton]

Busboy at a steak and seafood restaurant. 3.35 an hour and some decent tips from the waitresses. Enough that I put my checks directly in the bank and eventually bought a car. The experience lead to my lifelong disdain for the general public 

[tdawg87]

4 minutes ago, cals said:

I, um, I don’t know.  Maybe we should ask him?  I don’t think he’s one of the old fuckers.

I just assume he is. It's better that way.

[JAHV76]

McDonald’s assembly line and fry cooker 

[Taylor]

My first "service" job was at Chick-fil-A. Good place to work.

[Tank]

7 hours ago, Lou said:

You should demand reparations.

I was in 8th grade with no experience. When I asked the owner for a job he asked me how much I wanted to be paid. I was afraid if I said too much he wouldn’t hire me so I purposefully made a low offer. He jumped all over it. 
 

To my credit, after a couple of months he doubled my pay when he saw the quality of my work.

[Taylor]

15 minutes ago, cals said:

Sigh, of course it was.  Did you guys sing This Little Gospel Light of Mine while deep frying hate?

Yes.

[Brandon]

A blow job

[Lou]

2 minutes ago, Brandon said:

A blow job

How much did he pay you?

[UndertheHalo]

I was 17 and I worked at Target.  Was assigned to the garden center.  I really loved climbing into the rafters and pulling down 75 pound bbqs for old ladies that badly needed to look at the pictures on the box of every single one.  I made 6.25 or 6.75 an hour.  One or the other. I don’t remember.

Edited March 1, 2021 by UndertheHalo

[Rico]

Gas station/liquor store my Junior/Senior year of high school.  5.50 an hour under the table.  Mostly stocked shelves after school, but Sundays I would be there by myself just watching football.

[RallyMo]

Unless we count unpaid labor for my stepdad's business in my early teens, it's relatively unpaid labor for Circuit City. Would you like to talk about why the Sony Trinitron is the best choice for you?

[Brandon]

7 hours ago, Lou said:

How much did he pay you?

Back then, I was doing it for free if someone slipped me a Ritalin

[Brandon]

First regular job was Steak Escape in a mall. I don't remember my wage, but I do remember getting promoted to manager after a month and it came with a ten cent raise. I thought I was on top of the world and even stopped playing sports in high school to be career oriented.