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Where and what were your first job?

First class through Countryside. Would've been Clearwater if I started a year earlier.
 
This place:



Fry cook, and operator of the fry bin grease "rejuvenator" Dangerous as hell. My brother got some wicked burns when the handle came loose from the hose pumping the hot grease back into the bin. I still have my uniform in the attic. It still smells like Burger Chef.
 
Does cutting some neighbors lawns when I was about 11-12 count? If so, that.

If not, I was a busboy at a buffet restaurant when I was 15. I didn't lie on my application but they only hired 16 and up. They caught their mistake a couple weeks later and let me go and told me to come back in about 5 months when I was 16.
 
chi chi's Mexican restaurant in Orlando, bus boy when I was 15. Just an empty field where it was torn down now.
that is REALLY hard to imagine. in Orlando? An empty field where something used to stand? I've driven through whORLando about 5-6 times in the last 6 weeks and it seems like every time it gets bigger.
 
First real job was working at Target during the summer. I was on the morning team who got in early, restocked the floor shelves after unloading the truck and then moved the surplus back to the stockroom. The only bad part was unloading the truck, those things are hot in the summer even in the morning.
 
PCB-Gassed up waverunners and set up the chairs every morning, broke chairs down at end of day. Was paid $10 a day, started summer going in to 5 grade.

Did this every summer until I was 15, the paid did get much better.

My first real W2 job was life guarding at Shipwreck Island Water Park when I was 16.
 
My first job where Uncle Sam took a piece was at Little Cesar's Pizza. I was 13. When school was out I was laying on the floor watching TV. My dad came in and asked me what plans I had for the summer. I told him "you're lookin' at it". He pulled out a filled in, signed juvenile work permit for the state of California.

He told me to put on a suit. Yes a suit. Then he instructed me to walk to every business on 17th between Dover and University (the main street outside of our neighborhood) and pick up an application. This was a 2 mile stretch of wall to wall strip malls. At least 100 storefronts.

I collected about 25 applications and filled them out. Nobody called me. No-one wanted a goofy 13 year old kid working for them I guess. Several places even had help wanted signs.

About 2 weeks later I was back on the living room floor watching TV. My dad asked why I wasn't at work. I told him no one had called me. He told me that wasn't the way it worked. Put on my suit and went out to follow up. When I went into the Little Cesar's (where their was a help wanted sign) the manager was trying to brush me off, but the franchise owner's wife was there and made her hire me.

2nd day on the job my bike was stolen. It was just over 2 miles from my house. I walked there the rest of the summer. Our uniforms were 100% polyester. By the time I got to work every day I could shoot lightning bolts off the end of my fingers from the static electricity. Cars used to honk at me as I was walking down the side walk, I would just waive, I had no clue they were making fun of me. I was that clueless.

My dad wouldn't buy me another bike because that one was stolen and now I had a job. I made minimum wage, it was $3.35, then went up to $3.80 then to $4.25 pretty quickly over my first couple of years working. The job sucked. I mostly washed dishes and cut veggies in the beginning, and then moved up to making pies, then to the front and phones, I was on the phones pretty quickly because other than the manager I think I may have been the only native English speaker. I did eat a lot of pizza though. And I know Little Cesar's doesn't have the best rep, but we used all fresh veggies and cut them up there and even the ham, pepperoni etc was cut up there and we made fresh dough from scratch. Only the sauce came in cans.

After that summer as unskilled labor I realized I needed a skill. As soon as I turned 14 I got certified as a life guard. And that was it, the rest of high school I was a lifeguard or valet. Mad poontang and dolla' bills.

Here is a photo from that first week of work. My dad made me wear my bike lock around my neck all weekend because I didn't lock my bike. My sisters found this amusing and captured the moment for ever.
13239332_10154835104720410_3794894813940575920_n.jpg
 
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My first job where Uncle Sam took a piece was at Little Cesar's Pizza. I was 13. When school was out I was laying on the floor watching TV. My dad came in and asked me what plans I had for the summer. I told him "you're lookin' at it". He pulled out a filled in, signed juvenile work permit for the state of California.

He told me to put on a suit. Yes a suit. Then he instructed me to walk to every business on 17th between Dover and University (the main street outside of our neighborhood) and pick up an application. This was a 2 mile stretch of wall to wall strip malls. At least 100 storefronts.

I collected about 25 applications and filled them out. Nobody called me. No-one wanted a goofy 13 year old kid working for them I guess. Several places even had help wanted signs.

About 2 weeks later I was back on the living room floor watching TV. My dad asked why I wasn't at work. I told him no one had called me. He told me that wasn't the way it worked. Put on my suit and went out to follow up. When I went into the Little Cesar's (where their was a help wanted sign) the manager was trying to brush me off, but the franchise owner's wife was there and made her hire me.

2nd day on the job my bike was stolen. It was just over 2 miles from my house. I walked there the rest of the summer. Our uniforms were 100% polyester. By the time I got to work every day I could shoot lightning bolts off the end of my fingers from the static electricity. Cars used to honk at me as I was walking down the side walk, I would just waive, I had no clue they were making fun of me. I was that clueless.

My dad wouldn't buy me another bike because that one was stolen and now I had a job. I made minimum wage, it was $3.35, then went up to $3.80 then to $4.25 pretty quickly over my first couple of years working. The job sucked. I mostly washed dishes and cut veggies in the beginning, and then moved up to making pies, then to the front and phones, I was on the phones pretty quickly because other than the manager I think I may have been the only native English speaker. I did eat a lot of pizza though. And I know Little Cesar's doesn't have the best rep, but we used all fresh veggies and cut them up there and even the ham, pepperoni etc was cut up there and we made fresh dough from scratch. Only the sauce came in cans.

After that summer as unskilled labor I realized I needed a skill. As soon as I turned 14 I got certified as a life guard. And that was it, the rest of high school I was a lifeguard or valet. Mad poontang and dolla' bills.

Here is a photo from that first week of work. My dad made me wear my bike lock around my neck all weekend because I didn't lock my bike. My sisters found this amusing and captured the moment for ever.
13239332_10154835104720410_3794894813940575920_n.jpg
Sounds like your dad and I would get along great!!!!!
 
My wife is from Bloomfield Hills, I bet you didn't make any money there (sarcasm font)

I usually did two loops a day in the summer. I was 12-13 years old at the time and I would come home with 50-60 bucks in my pocket a day. Best part of it was the caddies were allowed to play the course on the day it was closed to members.

We spent two years in the suburbs of Detroit before my dad was transferred back to Texas. That place was God awful then and I can't imagine what it is like now.
 
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I had some jobs working for my dad including programming embroidery machines as a kid.

First job I got on my own was lifeguard at the Black Hole water slide and bartender at the drive up daiquiri bar in front of it in PCB. Needless to say the bar doesn't exist any more and neither does the slide. After that I moved over to a beach lifeguard gig working for the mafia boss of lifeguarding, Ed.
 
My first job was at 14 washing dishes at Aunt Hatties on St. Pete Beach. 3-11 zero breaks...just went as hard as I could until closing time for $3 an hour. I remember I went to Tally over a weekend to visit some friends and dreamed of the gosh darned sauce pans.

re: Northwood Mall - I had a job during college at the gymnastics place there that was run by the city. My job was basically to make sure the girls got to their cars etc..safely at the end of the night. Cakey job.
 
West Palm Beach. Construction clean up. Nothing like throwing away bottles of pee and buckets of crap from construction workers. I was 15.
 
I usually did two loops a day in the summer. I was 12-13 years old at the time and I would come home with 50-60 bucks in my pocket a day. Best part of it was the caddies were allowed to play the course on the day it was closed to members.

We spent two years in the suburbs of Detroit before my dad was transferred back to Texas. That place was God awful then and I can't imagine what it is like now.

The times I visited, it was one of the wealthiest areas in the Midwest. A lot of the Detroit athletes and Motown stars as well as the execs from the auto industry.

I am surprised by your experience.
 
Delivered the Courier News newspaper in Hillsborough, NJ when I was 12. It was an afternoon newspaper. When mom couldn't drive me I was biking it. Good memories.

After that we moved to Coral Springs and I worked at the Publix when I was 14. I still remember my first day-- a 4 hour shift that about killed me.
 
had an afternoon paper route when I was in 6th grade. 84 papers. My younger brother and I could run the route and get it done in 20 minutes. He was so short his paper bag dragged on the ground. Id run up one side of the street, he'd run up the other. Learned a lot about human nature when we collected. 42 years later, I still remember the names of just about everyone on the route.
 
My mom kept the books at a local pharmacy (classic soda fountain was the best part). I literally don't remember starting work there, since I was there everyday after school I think the owner finally got tired of me reading comics and eating ice cream and put me to work. Besides 3 months one summer at a construction supply place when I was 19, I've never worked anywhere but a pharmacy
 
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Delivered the Courier News newspaper in Hillsborough, NJ when I was 12. It was an afternoon newspaper. When mom couldn't drive me I was biking it. Good memories.

After that we moved to Coral Springs and I worked at the Publix when I was 14. I still remember my first day-- a 4 hour shift that about killed me.
We've probably had this conversation before, so forgive me. What school did you go to in Coral Springs? I went to CSHS. Which Publix did you work at? The one on Sample and University? I used to live in a condo near there (part of sophomore year of hs through beginning of senior year). We always used that address so I could go to CS schools instead of the Coconut Creek schools I was zoned for. I was supposed to be going to Crystal Lake Middle and Ely High!
 
My mom kept the books at a local pharmacy (classic soda fountain was the best part). I literally don't remember starting work there, since I was there everyday after school I think the owner finally got tired of me reading comics and eating ice cream and put me to work. Besides 3 months one summer at a construction supply place when I was 19, I've never worked anywhere but a pharmacy
I used to love places like that. We still had a few when I was frowing up( Ranches and Henry's) and they were the best.
 
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We've probably had this conversation before, so forgive me. What school did you go to in Coral Springs? I went to CSHS. Which Publix did you work at? The one on Sample and University? I used to live in a condo near there (part of sophomore year of hs through beginning of senior year). We always used that address so I could go to CS schools instead of the Coconut Creek schools I was zoned for. I was supposed to be going to Crystal Lake Middle and Ely High!

Yeah we talked about this but I enjoy it-- no problem.. Was Coconut Creek a bad place? I remember when we lived down there was a slew of really nice suburban areas (Plantation, CS, Lantana, Boca, etc.) I thought CC was nice as well? Maybe as a kid my whole perception was off... who knows. We had relatives in Boca Raton and used to travel up 441 all the time to see them.

We only lived in Coral Springs for a few years, my dad was in education so he kept getting "better" jobs which eventually took him to being a teacher at TCC. We moved to CS when I started the 8th grade and went to CSMS and then CSHS. We moved to Tallahassee when I was in 10th grade.

I worked at the Publix off of Wiles road-- we lived in Hidden Hammocks, right down the road from the Publix. I used to love going to the spring training and the Ft. Lauderdale Yankees games. Soccer was big down there as well and I remember the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers and this is where I became a big time dolphins fan that has stayed with me. It will always be Joe Robbie Stadium to me...

To this day I remember moving to Tallahassee and it being complete culture shock. I remember my science teacher saying ".. you moved from the big city to cows town"...lol.
 
Yeah we talked about this but I enjoy it-- no problem.. Was Coconut Creek a bad place? I remember when we lived down there was a slew of really nice suburban areas (Plantation, CS, Lantana, Boca, etc.) I thought CC was nice as well? Maybe as a kid my whole perception was off... who knows. We had relatives in Boca Raton and used to travel up 441 all the time to see them.

We only lived in Coral Springs for a few years, my dad was in education so he kept getting "better" jobs which eventually took him to being a teacher at TCC. We moved to CS when I started the 8th grade and went to CSMS and then CSHS. We moved to Tallahassee when I was in 10th grade.

I worked at the Publix off of Wiles road-- we lived in Hidden Hammocks, right down the road from the Publix. I used to love going to the spring training and the Ft. Lauderdale Yankees games. Soccer was big down there as well and I remember the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers and this is where I became a big time dolphins fan that has stayed with me. It will always be Joe Robbie Stadium to me...

To this day I remember moving to Tallahassee and it being complete culture shock. I remember my science teacher saying ".. you moved from the big city to cows town"...lol.
Coconut Creek wasn't bad, the zoning was just weird. I lived less than a mile from CC High School, which wasn't rated as highly as CS, but my parents would have sent me there no problem. However, I was zoned for Ely, which needless to say, had a less than stellar reputation and was a pretty solid bus ride from where I lived off Lyons Rd between Sample and Copans. There really weren't many school options at that time, as the area was still developing. Crystal Lakes Middle School was pretty far east and Margate Middle was not an option. There was no middle school in Creek. I was living in fear of getting caught for not being in the right school most of my middle/high school years. It really only came up a couple times when some school official would ask why I had a 979 phone number. I guess it wasn't really something that came up a lot.
 
Haberdasher at Fountain's Department store in Lake Worth. Worked in the Young Men's department. Started in 1967.
 
Lasted 2 weeks at Kroger bagging groceries before switching to delivering prescriptions to the elderly for small local pharmacy in Salem, VA.
 
My first job was as a stock clerk at Walmart in Quincy, FL. I started in high school and worked my way through college.
 
Burger Chef of FSU, across from Rogers

Burger Chef of FSU. Across W. Tennessee St. from Rogers Hall and adjacent to the FSU President's House. Place is now a Burger King I believe. Two HBs, fries and a small coke........$.57.
I had many a burger in that joint. The old man loved it for some reason. I once won a POS bicycle there in a Christmas raffle.
 
caddy. Greensburg country club, Pennsylvania. 1943-44. Arnold Palmer's father was the greens keeper out of Latrobe. Arnie worked in the clubhouse handing the bags out to us peons. Got $1.00 a round and usually tipped ten to twenty five cents
 
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caddy. Greensburg country club, Pennsylvania. 1943-44. Arnold Palmer's father was the greens keeper out of Latrobe. Arnie worked in the clubhouse handing the bags out to us peons. Got $1.00 a round and usually tipped ten to twenty five cents
Did Arnie remember his boys later?
 
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