What was your first paying "real" job growing up...

[Jim Tobias]

First job was at 12 working with my granddad and uncle as an "gopher/apprentice" on construction/renovation. A few bucks per job, depending on what they were being paid.
Then a dress/clothing factory... $1.25/hour but a lot of overtime in busy season. Then a State Tree Nursery with the Forestry Dept.
Pay was around $2/hour and we earned every penny in the HOT sun(pine seedlings/no shade).
IN college, I worked part time at the State Correctional Institute for 14-17 yr olds as a "counselor". Don't remember the pay, but it was a great, interesting part time job.
All in all, I earned a lot more in experience than I did in dollars, but it was invaluable to me.
Retired now and only doing woodworking...... the pay for that is about where it all started! But, I enjoy every minute!

Jim

[Rob Cunningham]

I started working when I was 13 at the used car dealer down the street. He started me at a whopping 75 cents/hour. My duties included scraping dog crap off the floor and sweeping the floor, mowing the 2 acre field next to the building with a 20" mower, tarring the flat roof on the building, raking leaves and cutting grass at his house, and detailing cars. There were some days when Joe would say "get in steak body truck, we're going to the junk yards today" We would spend the day driving around Philadelphia stopping at different junk yards to pick up car parts. I worked for Joe for five years (with annual increases and a full weeks pay for a Christmas bonus) and learned a lot, most importantly that hard work wasn't going to hurt you. A lesson that has stuck with me my whole life. He was a good-hearted man that only asked for an honest days work.

[Jerome Stanek]

actually mine was at my parents greenhouse. worked there fir 2 years before going into the service. Then I worked as a stripper for a printing company.

[Jim O'Dell]

I'll have to read all of these later...should be fun. My first paying job was a paper route when I was 11 years old. I had my own checking account because my Mom didn't want me to carry cash to pay for the papers each week, so got me a checking account. I made enough to pay for my first 2 motorcycles, and a big portion of my first car, in less than a year. Jim.

[Jim Mattheiss]

I started out mowing lawns for cash. Took over my brother's paper route for a while.

First W-2 job was as the landscaper at a garden complex. The company wouldn't pay the hourly rate my boss Walter thought was fair so I worked 30 hours and he put me in for 40 hours. I remember the check was $172.60 after taxes.

Jumped to pumping gas for minimum wage. Then went to another station that paid more than minimum wage but worked for a drunk - that was interesting.

Worked for a landscaper and as a Fruit and Vegetable Delivery Driver before finding my current gig of 21 year - IT professional.

Jim

[Bill Edwards(2)]

Good guesses on the gas prices... I was born in '47

[Jerome Stanek]

I remember gas wars where the price dropped below 20 cents. When I was out I didn't feel bad about pulling in and getting a dollars worth.

[Larry Browning]

I remember gas wars where the price dropped below 20 cents. When I was out I didn't feel bad about pulling in and getting a dollars worth.

I could cruise the drag all night on a $1.00 worth of gas.

[Bill Edwards(2)]

I remember gas wars where the price dropped below 20 cents. When I was out I didn't feel bad about pulling in and getting a dollars worth.

I changed those price signs a lot during gas wars.

I remember posting 7 cent gas.

[Rick Potter]

Bill,

You put up a sign for 7 cent gas?? You sure that's not when you LOST your first job??

Rick P

[Larry Browning]

I remember 19 or maybe ever 17 cent gas during a gas war. It would then go back up to 26 or 28. I worked at a gas station when I was 16. It was about 3 block from my house. I would walk to work most days, unless I had something wrong with my car (quite often). The owner would let me put my car up on the rack and use his tools. I would work on my car in between customers. He had a pair of binoculars we would use to check out the stations down the street during a gas war. I also changed the sign during a gas war. Those were fun for me, however I don't think the owner enjoyed them very much. I'd come running in and "Mr. James, the Skelly down the street just went to 19. What do you want to do?" He'd say "Damnit, I can't afford that!" Then a few minutes later, he'd say "let's go to 18, and see how he likes that!". Those were the days!

[Jim O'Dell]

Yeah, I remember filling my motorcycle up during the gas wars for 17.9/gal. That would be in the late 60's. Jim.

[Matt Meiser]

My first job was cleaning the meat department at a local grocery store, about 1988. I made whatever minimum wage was and got a grumble from my boss when that increased. After a little more than a year I got a job at a regional auto parts chain where I got a number of raises as I passed parts of the training program. They brought me back a few summers while I was in college. Then I got a summer job for 2 years at Tenneco doing tech support for Monroe Shock Absorbers making maybe $8-10/hr which was pretty good money for a summer job.

[George Jungerman]

I remember those days. We were driving through Houston one time, and my Dad filled up for, I think it was about .13 a gal, then saw a station a mile or so down the road that had it for about .09. I remember him saying "maybe we should drain the tank and refill". Most of the time it was about .25 a gal, as I remember.