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

  1. #1
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    What was your first paying "real" job growing up...

    Ok...time for a little yack, read, and enjoy thread.

    What was your very first real paying job outside your parent's home growing up? What was your job title or what did you do at that job and what was your beginning pay?

    My first real paying job was when I was in high school. I started working for Winn Dixie Grocery Store in Montgomery, AL. I started out as a bag boy, then 2 days later I got moved to the Produce Department. 4 months later, I got moved to a different store to work in the meat department. I drove 30 miles round trip to work and back and my pay was $1.50 per hour.

    Ok...your turn...what's your story?
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  2. #2
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    I started and worked for Shaw's Supermarkets for 6 years. They darn paid for the first car I bought (parents bought my first, I had to buy the next), my first IBM-compatible computer, and for my undergrad degree at UNH. When I was offer work-study money in school, I made twice as much per school year as they offered and only worked 3 days instead of 5 days per week (4.85/hr vs 8.50 and 12.75 on Sundays). It was a real good job. For the first 4-5 years they even offered part-timers health insurance.
    Last edited by Anthony Whitesell; 10-18-2011 at 8:18 PM.

  3. #3
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    Rutherford Co., NC
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    First job - mowing lawns for neighbors
    Next - worked at a hardware store/garden center where my dad was manager (cash under the table)
    Next - first "real" job - busboy/dishwasher in a steakhouse
    "Live like no one else, so later, you can LIVE LIKE NO ONE ELSE!"
    - Dave Ramsey

  4. #4
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    Paradise PA
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    i started working at 15 at a local pool, that was in national news a few years ago. i started at 6.25 i think. my last paycheck there was $1.75 after taxes
    14x48 custom 2hp 9gear lathe
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    Wood in every shelf and nook and cranny,,, seriously too much wood!

  5. #5
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    Jun 2009
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    Grew up on a small farm, so was working from an early age. First job was cleaning a plywood mill on weekends. Paid well, but was a dirty, hard job. Made every job since seem easy.
    Paul

  6. #6
    Heathkit.

    I cannot remember what I was paid, probably about $6/hour. Worked there from about 16 to 17 or 17-1/2. Approx. 1981 to 1982.

  7. #7
    !st job was delivering papers, hard part was going around collecting, i always had money owed, never everybody caught up, now i pay by mail and never see the paperboy ........err....paperperson

  8. #8
    First paid job was putting the pins in buttons for a Billy Graham appearance. Was paid 3 cents a button I think. A big thank you went to my dad for helping

    And I'll add that my first day I walked two miles at the start of a blizzard to get there! lol

  9. #9
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    Indianapolis
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    Worked at the local drug store doing what needed to be done--clean restroom, stock shelves, clean floors, unpack supply orders, cashier. In 1962-1964 this was a good job for a high school kid; paid $1 an hour.
    ________
    Ron

    "Individual commitment to a group effort--that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work."
    Vince Lombardi

  10. #10
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    I turned over apartments on weekends. We'd clean and paint two apartments over a weekend. I earned great money for a twelve year old. I got really good at painting.
    Shawn

    "no trees were harmed in the creation of this message, however some electrons were temporarily inconvenienced."

    "I resent having to use my brain to do your thinking"

  11. #11
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    Feb 2003
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    Leesville, SC
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    O.K., Guess I'm much older than the rest of you guys. There were 3 boys in my family and my father was a barber. Our first job when we were big enough was sweeping the floor in the barber shop and shining shoes. A shoe shine was $0.15 but we usually got a quarter.

    My second job was washing cars at a local gas station and pumping gas. This included checking the oil and washing the windshield.

    Next I worked at "Ed's Drive Thru" as a curb-hop. At this job, we got $1.00's worth of food a day. What money we made was in tips. If you didn't get any tips, you didn't make any money. We would usually average over $2.00 per hour which was darn good money for a kid in the mid sixtys.

    Later on I moved down the street to the Grocery store. Worked as a bag boy and later was promoted to driving the delivery truck. A lot of older people would walk to the store, buy their groceries, and we would deliver the groceries to them. Some people would call in their order, we would get their groceries together, and deliver the groceries to them. Most people don't remember grocery stores delivering groceries. The grocery store job paid $10.00 for a 12 hour day.

    From there it was high school graduation, then residential electrical work, US Army, more electrical work. Then Electrical and Instrumentation work, then Instrument Technician, and then a Training Coordinator.

    Now it is Retirement...... Best job I ever had.
    Last edited by Dennis Peacock; 11-14-2011 at 10:09 AM.
    Army Veteran 1968 - 1970
    I Support the Second Amendment of the US Constitution

  12. #12
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    Worked on a chicken vaccinating crew for a local feed mill. It wasn't as glamorous as it sounds. lol
    My three favorite things are the Oxford comma, irony and missed opportunities

    The problem with humanity is: we have paleolithic emotions; medieval institutions; and God-like technology. Edward O. Wilson

  13. #13
    Join Date
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    Middle Tennessee
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    Other than mowing lawns, my first paying job was working at one of my best friend's dad's sporting goods store when I was 16 (this was in 1967). I was a flunky,--salesman, cleaner of minnow vats, cleaner of boats, putter together of boat trailers, cleaner of used guns, pumper of gas, minnow truck driver (wholesaler of minnows), etc....

    I made $1.00 per hour although min wage was either $1.35 or $1.65 at the time. Employer was exempt due to small number of employees. Worked 6-7 ten hour days during summers and 10 hours every other Sat. and Sunday during school year. No time and a half overtime either.This store was technically open 24 hrs a day 7 days a week. There was a night man who locked the door and slept from about 10:00 - 3:30 and opened at 4:00 for hunters and fishermen. There was a buzzer for customers to wake the guy if they needed something.

    I remember once when my friend's family went on a 3-week vacation I worked (along with about everyone else who worked there) 21 straight 10 hour days and received $210 when they returned. I thought I was the richest man in town.

  14. #14
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    Camas, Wa
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    As soon as I could see over the push mower,I was mowing yards. When I was in 7th grade,I was the janitor of my grade school. It paid $250 a month. I did it for one year. I also stocked shelves at the local auto parts store somewhere in there.

  15. #15
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    Jul 2007
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    Earth somewhere
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    1,061
    I was 14 (I think) and worked as a dock boy at a place called Brentwood Boat Rentals on Vancouver Island, got paid $2.50/hour. The perks were we got to use the boats as long as they weren't booked to go fishing or what have you. Overall it was a good place to work and play. Stayed for a couple years.

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