What Did You Learn From Your First Job?
Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee took to the House floor today to blast Newt Gingrich's comments about kids working as janitors, sparking an argument with Rep. Dan Lungren. An excerpt:
"The idea of substituting a New York janitor who makes $37,000, and put a bunch of kids to work — the New York school district is predominantly minority, Latino and African American — is by its very words, divisive and destructive," she said.
“The point he made is that it is far better that we create an economic environment in which men and women, young and old, have an opportunity to experience the satisfaction of a job well done,” Lungren said... He added that “too often, we have knocked out the lower rungs of the ladder of economic success” in a way that has led to a lack of confidence.
Set aside Jackson Lee, one of Congress's more ridiculous personalities, for a moment, and consider: what was your first job? And: what did you learn from it?
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Comments:
Jun '11
Re: What Did You Learn From Your First Job?
EJHill: My summer job was umpiring youth baseball. A game every night of the week and doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday. All for $16 a game. By the time I was in college my season was the equivalent of a minor league season. (96-100 games)
What I learned:
1) If you want to take Cuba, leave the Marines alone. Give me a brigade of irate moms and tell them Castro is the reason their boy isn't starting. I'll take the island in a week.
. · Jan 18 at 12:06pm
Ahh EJ, you do have a way of evoking a belly laugh.
My indelible first job lesson, learned at a small meat market/grocery store, occurred after the dolly full of milk I was literally running with on my way to refill the store's empty milk case struck a piece of fat, lurched forward, and dumped milk all over the cutting floor. The owner glanced up briefly, said without hesitation, "Way to go, dumbass," and resumed cutting meat.
Lesson learned: Life can be hard, and we should not expect to be coddled.
Apr '11
Re: What Did You Learn From Your First Job?
Hoeing cotton and corn fields in the Texas panhandle. 25 cents an hour. I learned to manage my money, how to pull my own weight.
Edited on January 18, 2012 at 10:12pmAug '10
Re: What Did You Learn From Your First Job?
Sweeping floors, unloading boxcars full of hundred pound boxes of nails, sweeping compound, and trucks full of hammers, small appliances at the family enterprise. I later became president so it , and my lucky genes , turned out pretty well. In between I did almost every job in the company. It was great. I learned alot, but most importantly I learned about people and how working with them everyday was so rewarding. If you think your family and friends is too small, then add another couple hundred to that group. Makes life a joy. It was wonderful but the industry died so I changed jobs after 26 years as the fifth generation in a family enterprise that once sold buggy whips. We also made harnesses and collars and saddles to the folks that built the country here in the midwest and out west.
My children saw their first time clock about 15, they are very thankful for that experience. One was a checker in a grocery store and he's full of stories about food stamp abuse that would make James Clyburn blanch ( ?).
Nov '11
Re: What Did You Learn From Your First Job?
It was 1956, I was 15, and I worked in a daycare center in Chicago for .75 an hour. I learned that I would never, never, never put my own kids in daycare.
Feb '11
Re: What Did You Learn From Your First Job?
Around age 9, I made an agreement with my mother to clean bathrooms for a quarter, mop floors for $1, dust and vacuum for $1, etc. She asked why she should pay me when she could make me work for free. I explained that this way she would never have to nag or decide which of her children should be put to work, and the price was pretty good. She agreed.
Then I worked as an independent contractor with a newspaper route, starting at age 11. The newspaper brought 70+ papers which I delivered to my customers, rain or snow or shine, before 7 am. I received a monthly bill from the paper which I paid out of my collections. The leftover money was mine. I did that job for 6 years. My mother never helped me once or delivered the papers for me.
My first job for which I collected a paycheck/filed a 1099 was lifeguard. Easy money but sooooo boring...
From these jobs I learned that I like to work hard, I like having little supervision from bosses, and that I would rather work for myself and set my own hours than have to work with others.
Re: What Did You Learn From Your First Job?
First job: Landscaping; clearing land, days spent on the rail lines picking up discarded railroad ties, moving wheelbarrow loads of dirt and gravel, and laying sod and planting palm trees.
Lessons:
1. Nothing is quite as rewarding as knowing that you really earned your pay with an honest day's labor (one of the reasons I took up truck driving).
2. You can always do more than you think you can.
3. When people show up to make you put down the shovel and head for some shade,...listen to them.
4. The more hot and tired you are, the better the beer tastes.
5. Sun screen is your friend.
6. When you see someone performing some sort of physical labor, be sure and call them "Sir," or "Ma'am."
Edited on January 18, 2012 at 9:39pmMay '10
Re: What Did You Learn From Your First Job?
All 5 boys in our family threw newspapers, cut lawns, and shoveled snow starting at the age of 12. I sold the most newspapers in our region, earning me an all-expense trip to see Nixon's 2nd inauguration (and becoming the first sibling to ride in an airplane). We used to cheer when the temperature dipped below 0F, because then we received extra "points", which were eventually used to buy my first 10-speed bike, a Schwinn Continental.
During one winter, we ran out of regular customers and rode our bikes to find houses whose driveways hadn't yet been shoveled. We left hand-written notes on some doors that said, "If you'd like to have your driveway shoveled while you are vacationing in Hawaii, please give us a call". Weeks later, two called, and we had guessed exactly where they were! They became our best customers. Many years later, after graduating from college, i learned that one of them, Norman Strunk, was President of the US Savings and Loan Association. I found this out when he offered me a job as an Examiner, which I turned down, but younger brother later accepted, his 1st real job
Nov '10
Re: What Did You Learn From Your First Job?
I'm currently an economist in a big company, but in my youth I bailed hay, paved asphalt, fueled airplanes (in and out of the military), and worked frieght docks and warehouses. I learned that I wanted something more, and that was a valuable lesson.
Oct '11
Re: What Did You Learn From Your First Job?
I started shearing sheep for a local farmer when I was 16. I learned the increased value of my purchases when I earned the money, the satisfaction of starting your day early, the respect and trust you received from being dependable and working hard, the stupidity of following the creature in front of you, and that I'm not allergic to wool.
I don't suppose you'd mind sharing that juicy nougat. The advice, not the girl.
Dec '10
Re: What Did You Learn From Your First Job?
My first real job taught me what it feels like to be "let go." I've minded my productivity level since then. It also taught me that drunks tip the best and dogs frequently think pizza delivery boy is what's for dinner.
Mar '11
Re: What Did You Learn From Your First Job?
What they do see is that A) there is no inherent dignity in work and B) not all work betters one's life.
The reality is that one must want to better one's life, then work toward doing so. Such work is dignified.
Conservatives tend to talk past those who cannot yet comprehend the "better" life.
Re: What Did You Learn From Your First Job?
PS: I was a janitor after that at a supermarket. An honorable and very necessary profession.
Jan '11
Re: What Did You Learn From Your First Job?
Golf caddy when I was 12. A grade "A" caddy received $4 for a round of golf, generally the caddy received $1 "tip" as well. It amounted to about a dollar per hour.
I learned at the time to be quiet while working. Later, I learned that I prefer work that pays cash.
Dec '10
Re: What Did You Learn From Your First Job?
Casey
What they do see is that A) there is no inherent dignity in work and B) not all work betters one's life.
The reality is that one must want to better one's life, then work toward doing so. Such work is dignified.
Conservatives tend to talk past those who cannot yet comprehend the "better" life. · Jan 18 at 12:42pm
The UK has a growing problem with this. We certainly have some of it here as well.
Edited on January 18, 2012 at 9:47pmOct '10
Re: What Did You Learn From Your First Job?
First cash money was from mowing lawns, then picked berries and beans in summer to buy school clothes. Then came the job at a car wash at $1 buck an hour with a printed paycheck and those ghastly deductions a youths mind connot grasp.Where did my money go ? Why ?
Then and there it was decided to make more than somebody could take away.
Found survival was a career in and of itself, no free rides or forgiveness along the way.
Re: What Did You Learn From Your First Job?
One last word about the honor of janitorial work.
There was a saying in my house that if you skeeve dirt, you'll probably have a dirty house because you won't want to get near the dirt to clean it.
Clean people get dirty.
May '11
Re: What Did You Learn From Your First Job?
When I was 12 I started mowing lawns during the summer and shoveled sidewalks during the winter. Made really good money for a 12 year old. Being a bit of a baseball nerd I spent most of it on baseball cards. What was I thinking? I should of spent it on women and partying then waste the rest on something frivolous. It taught me that old people get cranky when you let their lawn grow for a couple of weeks and it starts looking like a jungle in their front yard. I had some uptight clients.
Aug '10
Re: What Did You Learn From Your First Job?
I learned that my brain is not suited to sitting in front of a 2 tonne punch press for 8 hours a day.
Mind ... numbing ... boredom ...
Aug '10
Re: What Did You Learn From Your First Job?
You could also have made the argument that productivity is much higher from paid workers than from indentured servants.
Dec '11
Re: What Did You Learn From Your First Job?
First job was for a sort of "continuing education" company for professors at Stanford during a summer. My high school English teacher helped me get the job, and I loved it. I learned all about Stanford. Second job was at McDonalds. "Clean don't lean". Terrible experience. I lasted two weeks. My father made me quit when a customer pulled a knife on me because I served him cold french frys, and really, who could blame either the customer or my father.
Third job, at 17 during the summer between college and high school was as a public sector janitor! City and County of San Francisco, in a rural hospital. Very hard to get the hang of that job, but I loved it. On my third day I was told to slow down because I was making the others look bad. On the fourth day I got caught reading in the library and severely reprimanded. I had to look busy and produce slowly, which I can do if I have to. College was a real mistake because I could have retired after 20 years at the age of 37!