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Posted by handycat (Member # 2323) on 03-08-2018, 10:40 AM:
 
Thought it might be interesting for us share the first few jobs we had when we started out in the work force.

The summer I was 16 I was a helper for a couple of Mason's. On my 17th birthday I joined the Army. Worked for the Corp of Engineer after the Army before going back to schoo on the GI bill.

This is probably a weak effort to get off the hot political topics for a while.
 

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Posted by Old Norm (Member # 1482) on 03-08-2018, 10:54 AM:
 
1. Hot walker at Dade (now Ellis) Park race track.
2. School janitor.
3. Veneer mill, cutting sheets of veneer to size.
4. Plumbers helper, digging out stopped up sewer lines by hand!
5. Joined Air Force to avoid being drafted by Army 23 days before 22nd birthday.
 

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Posted by handycat (Member # 2323) on 03-08-2018, 11:00 AM:
 
Norm, what's a hot walker?
 

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Posted by PaulCat (Member # 513) on 03-08-2018, 11:20 AM:
 
When I was 15 I got a summer job through a program called CETA. My high school had 6 buildings, and I took a sponge and a bucket of soapy water and cleaned out every student locker in all six buildings. I believe I was paid $3.25/hour plus anything I found still left in a locker. I'm 50 years old now and still have one of the books someone left behind.
 

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Posted by CatFanInYankeeville (Member # 2025) on 03-08-2018, 11:32 AM:
 
I grew up on a livestock farm, so that was the first "job" I had. Never earned any money but it came with room and board.

First job with a paycheck was fast food ... Dairy Queen. I was 15 and worked after school and nights in the summer. 15 years old and would be at work until 1 or 2 AM all summer long. I was cooking, cleaning and using all sorts of caustic chemicals that were probably illegal. I think I made $3.75 an hour, and that was more than enough to keep me interested. Met a lot of people there, living in the tourist town was great. Meet a girl and she was only in town for a week or so. Next week was a whole new crop!
 

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Posted by Old Norm (Member # 1482) on 03-08-2018, 11:35 AM:
 

quote:

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Originally posted by handycat:
Norm, what's a hot walker?

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After race horses had a workout, I had to walk them for 30 minutes. After a race, one hour. 50 cents and a dollar respectively.
 

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Posted by Tiptree (Member # 844) on 03-08-2018, 11:35 AM:
 
Hmmmmm..... I had two paper routes at age 15 (one morning, one afternoon).

About that time, I had a short-term job cleaning out an old attic in a five-and-dime. Dirty, hard work! But good money for a teenager.

Then that summer or the next, I took a job at as a gas station attendant, back when you would give full service when a car pulled in. Filled the tank, checked the oil, inflated tires, washed the windows. Apparently, however, my service was sub-par. It was the first job I was ever fired from. But not the last..

Then I was hired for a new Wendy's that opened up. They hired 2-3 times as many kids as they would ultimately keep, and I was assigned the job of washing dishes and managing the chili pot. I lasted about two weeks... but I kept my striped Wendy's shirt and cap!

I finally found my niche as a driver. I delivered prescriptions to shut-ins one year, and then spent some summers in college delivering pizzas. If you have a few hours and are buying the beer, I can tell you some stories about my days as a pizza driver.
 

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Posted by handycat (Member # 2323) on 03-08-2018, 11:49 AM:
 
An after thought, after the army and working for the Corp of Engineers, I was paid $2.82 and 1/2 cents an hour. Only the government would pay by 1/2 cents. By the way, that was excellent money in the mid 60's in western Kentucky.
 

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Posted by PaulCat (Member # 513) on 03-08-2018, 02:47 PM:
 
Tip, three questions:

1. Did you end the Wendy's job or did they give you the boot for not managing the chili correctly.

2. What dishes did you wash at Wendy's. I don't recall fast food having dishes?

3. Pizza delivery stories - any that would be rated XXX? If so, I've already seen that movie.
 

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Posted by Tiptree (Member # 844) on 03-08-2018, 03:19 PM:
 

quote:

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1. Did you end the Wendy's job or did they give you the boot for not managing the chili correctly.

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I was never told the reason for my early dismissal. I suspect that my work ethic wasn't what they wanted, and fast food wasn't what I wanted. It was mutually agreeable.

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2. What dishes did you wash at Wendy's. I don't recall fast food having dishes?

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quote:

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3. Pizza delivery stories - any that would be rated XXX? If so, I've already seen that movie. [Big Grin]

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quote:

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Originally posted by Tiptree:
Nothing like "Here's your pizza, and HERE'S your peperoni!"...

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Do you know this from an old Cheech and Chong skit?
 

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Posted by Tiptree (Member # 844) on 03-08-2018, 04:06 PM:
 
Yep. "Up in Smoke" maybe? It is a classic line!
 

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Posted by clydeh (Member # 7) on 03-08-2018, 05:55 PM:
 
Began installing rocklath (plaster base)in new housing when I was twelve. It was production work (25 cents per bundle). When I was sixteen, I was making about $2 per hour. Later began installing drywall.
 

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Posted by rlt4uk (Member # 3194) on 03-09-2018, 12:04 AM:
 
My first job was as a short order cook at dairy queen. I was 14 year's old and I made $1.80 per hour.
 

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Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 03-12-2018, 06:10 PM:
 
I got a job at the sewer department in Rockford Illinois. I was assigned as part of a 3 man crew to break up clogged sewer lines below the streets. The two guys on the crew I worked with were 2 older duffers that took me under their wing and taught me the art of keeping those lines running smoothly. They also taught me the card game called pitch which we played at lunch time that really ate away at my pay check for awile however it didn't take long for me to catch on to the game and by the end of the summer I won more than that back.

It really was a great job and I worked every summer there through high school and it ended up being a real eye opener to life. I met some really interesting human beings that I will never forget. They were great guys although none of us smelled that good after a day below the streets.
 

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Posted by PaulCat (Member # 513) on 03-13-2018, 07:34 AM:
 
CMD, I assume that was a long time ago. What kind of equipment did you use on the sewer lines back then? Was it equipment similar to the "snakes" we use today to unclog our residential pipes?
 

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Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 03-13-2018, 02:51 PM:
 
Paul, we used aluminum 3 foot aluminum hollow rods that would hook together with a bullet shaped lead rod. We ran water from hoses that were similar to fire hoses and hollow rods that floated the rods to the clog. Then we manually pushed them to break up the clog. (It was in the early 60'3.

[ 03-16-2018, 01:09 PM: Message edited by: catmandoo ]
 

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Posted by PaulCat (Member # 513) on 03-13-2018, 03:03 PM:
 
That's pretty sweet the things man comes up with to solve problems. Sounds like hard work, though.

[ 03-13-2018, 03:05 PM: Message edited by: PaulCat ]
 

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Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 03-13-2018, 03:25 PM:
 
Paul it was over 50 years ago and we used 3 foot aluminum tubular sections that we pushed through the sewer pipes under the man-holes.
 

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Posted by handycat (Member # 2323) on 03-13-2018, 04:43 PM:
 
Sounds like catmandoo and Norm had the "stickiest" jobs as young men.
 

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Posted by Old Norm (Member # 1482) on 03-13-2018, 05:27 PM:
 
I'll expound on my plumber's helper job: That particular sewer that I dug out by hand was the finale. It was made from those foot long 4" clay tiles that had no bell on the end and were just laid end to end. No way to keep roots out of them. It was also from an apartment house. A short description of the problem is, in those days we had pastel colored toilet paper. Anybody remember? there would be a pile of crap and a layer of colorful TP. Another pile and more TP. A condom and more TP, etc. etc. etc. The reason I stayed in the USAF 20+ years was, when it came time to get out or re-up, My dad was working for $100 per month, a house, 2 pigs and all the turkeys they could eat. My brother was working at a tire recapping place for $54 a week. I was making more than both of them combined. Then there was that apartment sewer. I raised my right hand and took the oath again.

[ 03-13-2018, 05:32 PM: Message edited by: Old Norm ]
 

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Posted by handycat (Member # 2323) on 03-13-2018, 05:29 PM:
 
Norm, too much information!

quote:

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there would be a pile of crap and a layer of colorful TP. Another pile and more TP. A condom and more TP, etc. etc. etc.

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quote:

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Originally posted by handycat:
Norm, too much information!

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