Sharon that's a pretty bad one! Reminds me of some friends I had that used to work in the skin vat at the poultry slaughterhouse, they had to put on a suit and go into this giant vat and scrape boiled chicken skin off the walls. Apparently it stunk like crazy too.

When I was a teenager, it was the recession and there were no jobs at all in my town. All the fast food type jobs were occupied by middle-aged people. But I did work for my Dad part time in the summer starting when I was about 15, he used to make me cut the grass and then do the edge trimming wearing work overalls and safety glasses that looked like this:
{{gwi:690649}}

We were right on Main Street and I was terrified that my friends would see me so when he went around the corner I would take them off and get grass in my eyes. LOL

Wow, the chicken jobs sound awful.

My first job, aside from babysitting, was at the Army & Navy Department Store in Regina for 6 weeks the summer I was 17. (I begged and pleaded with my folks to let me go with my best friend and stay with her not much older sister who had an apartment). My sole responsibility was a section about 10'x20' filled with mens sweaters that I folded, and refolded, and refolded. If it wasn't for the cute fella working in the jeans section, I wouldn't have lasted more than a week.

I guess I was pretty lucky, growing up in the "big city" in the early '70's, when it came to my first job. Besides plenty of babysitting within a block of home, my first job that had a real paycheque was at the bowling alley, working in the snack bar. It was fun, except for having to fend off the assistant manager all of the time. Boy, would he ever be up for harrassment in this day and age.
Slimeball. lol. Especially since I was only 15 - real jailbait. But, we had quite a few teens working and we all had a great time. I worked there for about a year and then went on to bigger and better(?). Yeah, right. LOL

Shauna

I babysat a lot too - didn't we all? LOL The first job i remember having, though, was a page in local public library. My favourite thing to do - put books away! For some reason that escapes me now (it was a long time ago, 40 years), the job didn't last long. The first decent-paying job i had ($1.25/hr) was cleaning rooms at the local hotel. I was 15 and tried to do my best but we were a clique-y town and everything was political. One girl who worked there slacked off a lot and gossiped about what went on there (a big no-no) but she was a big shot's daughter so i got blamed for everything.

The hotel was a good source of jobs for kids in our town - room cleaners, kitchen helpers, busboys, etc. I was lucky to be able to work there, and it was even better for the next few summers because i worked in the kitchen - nicer people and not so political. Come to think of it, though, the chef would have been up for harrassment nowadays too!

I grew up on a farm so I did chores and helped with other farm work until I was out of school. My first paying job was in a lumber camp. I started out working in the bush limbing trees after they had been cut down. After a few days someone quit in the sawmill and I went to work in the mill. It was hard work but they fed you well but the only bad part was there was no facilities to shower or clean up very well. Just a basin to wash your hands and thats it. After a week of work we usually got sundays off so we went home and there I was able to clean up better. I think the pay was $1.65 per hour. I lasted about a month there until the guy I was riding with got fired so I had to leave too. The money I earned was enough to help pay for Christmas presents that year.

Cheers Al

LOL, great first job stories everyone!

Gil, I can just picture you with those glasses on! LOL

I like this thread. It makes for interesting reading.

I also did the babysitting jobs throughout school. We lived in the country and our neighbors were part of a small band. So, my hours were to the wee hours in the morning. I got paid 85 cents an hour and I still remember that they owe me about $20 yet (about 24 hours of babysitting!). They moved without clearing up my babysitting bill.

My first paying job with real paychecks came the summer I turned 19. After I finished a year of Bible School I had 4 months before I started my dental assisting course at Red River Community College in Winnipeg. My dad's cousin owned a nursery in Brandon and so my dad asked him whether they were looking for anyone to work there for the 4 months.

What a wonderful experience! In May I helped with the transplanting, then selling the annuals, houseplants, etc in the main building. Then later near the end of June I moved out to help with the trees and shrubs. I ran the tills, answered phones and when the owners went on holidays I looked after the whole place from opening up the nursery in the morning, watering plants, selling and locking up at the end of the day. One other guy was in the back working with the trees and shrubs during the holiday time, so I was not totally alone. Otherwise it was just me. I learned a lot about all kinds of plants and am so glad for that basis in horticulture.

Something that I quite vividly remember is that so many people came in asking to buy 'cotton easter' shrubs. I would then turn around and let them know that the cotoneasters were such and such a price and then ask if they would like to purchase one or more.

Brenda

Great stories everyone!!
I did lots of babystitting too, and chores around the house...the "women's work"...
In high school I spent one summer as a live-in nanny for three girls, which wouldn't have been bad except the parents were constantly screaming at each other saying they wanted a divorce, and I had to try and calm the kids down, and at the end of the summer they paid me a third of what I had been promised, but I was so happy to get out of there I didn't care.
My first "real" job though, was the one I got the week after I graduated, working in the hospital kitchen. It was pretty good. I got trained to work the floors taking around the menues and water and snacks. I used to get hit on by the cardiac patients in ICU, which was pretty entertaining, but every once in a while I'd get confused for a nurse, because we wore scrubs too, and get asked to "take a look at this..."... I think I made around $7.25/hr.

Verena

What a neat idea for a thread. It's funny how first jobs tend to be very much less than glamorous.

I loved reading everyone's story. So here's mine. When I was 16, my cousin and I decided we would go and get jobs in Clear Lake, which is a resort town. I'd say pretty much 90% of the people employed in the whole town were teenagers, so it did make for a wee bit of partying. ;^)
My first paying job, other than working on the family farm, was scooping ice cream at an ice cream parlour for $3.85/hour. The plan was that we would go and work and get trained on the May long weekend, go back and finish up school, then go back for the summer. But, my cousin got fired after that weekend, so I ended not going back to the ice cream place either. This was fine by me anyway, as they were crappy people to work for. We did go back to Clear Lake at the end of June and found jobs as cashiers for the rest of the summer. During this summer is when I met my DH, who was working at a gas station in Clear Lake too. My friends all said it was just a summer fling, and that it would never last. Showed them!!LOL

Laurie

I also grew up on a farm. So I had no real jobs other than babysitting as a teenager. Which I had lots of requests for. Other than that I had tons of chores to do at home. My parents had a few hog barns and there was always lots to do out there.
I was married right after high school and my spouse didn't want me to work, so I babysat(again). Shortly before we split I finally got my first real job. I was a receptionist for a doctor. Loved that job.

BTW, I'm finally welding at the plant that I have worked 11 years for. I'm into my second week and time is just flying by. it is nice to learn something new.

Shelley

Picking apples when I was in kindergarten. Got like a nickel or a quarter per bushel. Big money back then.

As an adult, housecleaning at a resort, then a short stint at a woolen mill. Had to quit as I discovered I am very allergic to wool.