What was your first job in life (that you've worked and earned money)?

Question

At which age was it?
Any mistakes or funny things that happened then?

Answer 1

I started working full-time during the summer at age 11 as a waitress in my grandmother's restraunt. I did the exact job as other adult watresses and received .50 per hr plus supper. I worked the 3-11 shift and then it was midnight or after before we got out after cleaning and restocking. Back then we had to carry all of those cases of colas in and put them into the cooler box! I started buying my own school clothes then.A funny thing happened once but I didn't think it was so funny at the time. I was about 16 and was serving the Sunday lunch which was very fast and packed to the hilt with to-go orders and the register added to my area. I was serving a table of 6 their desserts of apricot cobbler and had lined them up my arm so I could make only one trip. I was almost there when a man pushed his chair back and caught my foot and I tripped and the desserts went flying under the table of 6 and all over their Sunday clothes and shoes!I was so embarrassed especially since I was pretty shy back then. Nobody got mad and I served them new desserts but I will never forget it!They left a good tip also! One night I was the only waitress and a large table was filled with ppl who had been drinking. I had never been around drinking and was very nervous because they got loud and were saying things unsuitable for a small town restraunt and a 13 yr old girl! I had to keep working though. My grandmother noticed that I was acting differently and I told her why. She came out and told them to settle down or leave because they were out of hand. They did and apologized and left me a $5 tip which was huge back then and the first one I ever had received!I learned good work ethics back then and my kids have learned them from me. If you would like to hear about one of my gramother's jobs contact me. This is getting long!

Answer 2

I worked as a Quality Assurance Inspector at Delta Faucet in Chickasha, Oklahoma.

I was... ...let's see... 18, I think when I started. (I'm 23 now.)

There was one machine that EVERYBODY in QA hated and that was the check wieght. It is this single machine that was placed on the conveyor belt coming from the assembly lines. Its purpose was to wieght the individual boxes to indicate whether or not it was packed properly. (If there was even a small part missing, it would kick it off the conveyor to be inspected. If there were too many parts, it would kick it off.) Sounds like a cool machine, right?

Well, it was when it actually worked properly - which was a VERY, VERY rare occurance. The wieght system was ultra-senstive. Every once in a while, the weights would somehow become imbalance - and it would kick every single box off of the conveyor. (Even if there wasn't anything wrong with them!) It would do this spontaneously too. There was no pattern to it at all.

In short, you'd have to reboot the entire system to get it operational again. This was done no less than ten times a day.

Burns me up just thinking about it...

Answer 3

After I graduated High School I worked at our local Amusement Park, in the games department. I actually loved and disliked the job both at the same time.

I bought my very first Leather Bomber jacket that summer and was able to start my Phantom of the Opera Collection with the money I earned.

I only worked there one summer. That same year later in December I started working full time for my very first Real Job as my parents like to call it. A major Pharmaceutical company.

Answer 4

At 14,I had my first real job working for the Government in a Retirement Fund Building. I really enjoyed my job because I got to meet many people, especially the adults. They were decent and treated me very well. The funniest thing that happened is I left the building to get lunch. Walked to the restaurant/store to get food and got lost on the way back! They were very understanding about it, thank goodness! :)

Answer 5

When I was 16, I got an after school job at a movie theater. Fun job - easy work, free movies, free popcorn, and free soda.

I remember seeing movies like Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park at employee previews the night before they opened. Also saw a few really lousy movies, just because someone had to watch every new film we got, just to make sure our copy of it was ok.

The only tough part was crowd control for the biggest movies, but that was a good experience for me. I was kind of shy when I started that job, and working crowd control got me used to yelling at large groups of people and talking to strangers, so it really was the perfect job for me.

Freakiest experience there was when I was stocking the bathroom one time and discovered that someone left their underwear in the toilet. Our manager didn't even flinch when I told him. He just bent a wire hanger into a hook to go fish it out and tossed it in the trash. He knew better than to ask minimum wage employees to deal with something like that. He was a good boss.

Answer 6

Business Analyst at Dun & Bradstreet. I started after I graduated - at age 22.

It was my job to telephone company directors and interview them about their company. If they weren't available we would send a written questionnaire in the post instead.

One time I tried to get in touch with the Managing Director of one of the largest Pharmaceutical companies in the UK - he wasn't available so I sent him a standard questionnaire. A couple of days later this guy phoned me. He said "yes, I know D & B and I'm always willing to assist but why have you sent me a blank sheet of paper?"
I was a bit confused and thought maybe a blank sheet had somehow got put in the envelope instead of the pre-printed questionnaire so I said "I'm terribly sorry - it should be a questionnaire asking about your company"
There was a silence on the line and then this guy who must've been earning more in a day that I did in a year slowly said "Ohhhh yeahhhhh.... I just turned the paper over and there's all these questions on the back...."

Answer 7

I worked third shift in a bakery when I was 18. The only funny thing was that an old bf that I hadn't seen in years worked first shift.

Answer 8

I started working as a dishwasher in a Chinese Restaurant when I was 16..........eventually becoming a waiter, then a cook, worked there all thru high school, AND learned some chinese too!! Funniest thing, the owners had a dog (a chow) that only understood chinese!!

Answer 9

Price Chopper shortly before I turned 17. Don't even get me started about how much I LOVEEEE the general public. Haha just kidding. At least I know what I don't want to do with the rest of my life.

Answer 10

I was 14 and worked at a deli in the mall. By the time I was 16 I was night time manager.