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 :
Dec '11
Re: What Did You Learn From Your First Job?
I forgot to add that my first job was building canoes.
May '10
Re: What Did You Learn From Your First Job?
By the way, the reason I skipped straight to my first formal, full-time job was to avoid this scenario. ;)
Nov '10
Re: What Did You Learn From Your First Job?
Well, my very first job was schlepping beers at the college bar, but when I flunked out I got a real job as a janitor at a hospital, My boss expected perfection, inspected my work often and thoroughly, and made me proud of my work.
Dec '10
Re: What Did You Learn From Your First Job?
Ben, excellent question and what amazing responses. My! What a hard working bunch we have here at Ricochet. For the record: First job-Working outside, in the Central Florida sun, installing an outdoor fitness trail around a putrid lake in the middle of my (formerly) small hometown. Lesson learned: NEVER take a job because your high school girlfriend has to do the work and wants you to do it with her. She quit after the first day. 2nd job-working outside in the same Central Florida sun for a plumbing contractor. This job single-handedly assured that I would a) go to college, and b) stay in college through graduation! Greatest lessons learned from my early jobs- 1) How NOT to manage, from working nights through college at the largest parcel delivery service in the world. 2) How NOT to sell, from a large insurance firm. I'm getting ready to celebrate my 21st anniversary with a fantastic company. I'm blessed far beyond what I deserve.
Nov '11
Re: What Did You Learn From Your First Job?
At 15 I was employeed as unskilled field labor in the hot muggy South Carolina summers. I learned I didn't want to be farm labor when I grew up. I also realized that when you are working you have money but no time to enjoy it. When you are unemployed you have time but no money to enjoy it. I was able to break that formula after marriage. Now I have no time and no extra money but a wife and five kids I enjoy more then I ever enjoyed money.
May '10
Re: What Did You Learn From Your First Job?
8 or 9 years old: collected old comic books from friends in my little red wagon, then pulled it down town where I sold them to a friendly barber for a nickel a piece.
10 or 12 years old: began sweeping the sidewalk in front of my fathers office. That lead to sweeping in from to several neighboring offices. That lead to stuffing envelopes for direct mail advertising.
13 or 14 years old: partnered with a friend to start a lawn mowing and landscaping business. We rode our bikes and towed a push mower behind us and carried a bassket full of clippers and shears.
Interspersed I had jobs as a bag boy at Safeway, sweeping up new construction in prep for tenant improvements, bus boy/dish washer.
I learned: self-discipline, how to speak with customers, how to do a good job (quality control), how to plan my time, various financial principles. In short, most of what gave me success in my working life, was learned in part-time jobs before I was 16. At 16 I was old enough to get a part-time job at the University where I later had a full and satisfying career.
May '10
Re: What Did You Learn From Your First Job?
Not counting neighborhood lawn-mowing or car-washing, my first job was sales clerk at Starship Records (long since RIP) in Enterprise, Alabama, making $3.35/hour.
To prevent theft, Starship had all the store's cassette tapes (kids, go look it up) stored in racks under plexiglass sheets. The customer would point to a tape, and I would raise up the plexiglass from the other side of the rack and retrieve it. Because the tapes were oriented for ease of reading on the part of the customer, I had to learn how to read the titles upside-down...