What Was Your First Job?

#26
#26
mad4vols said:
I don’t know any 10 year olds that had a job. That was a ton of money for a kid.
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It's funny because I had this identity as this really hard worker because I was raking in all this money as a kid, but once I was 16 and I had freedom via a car and all my jobs sucked, I found out I didn't like work that much and went a long stretch where I wasn't very driven. I didn't really like a job again until I was 28. I've loved work ever since.
 
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#28
#28
Oh yeah, just one last thing about being a kid in a gym. So many adults at the gym told me not to lift because it would stunt my growth. I messed around with the weights some but mostly listened. Come to find out the only way to stunt your growth is by fracturing growth plates and I was much more likely to do that playing soccer or basketball than I was lifting weights. I wish I hadn't been so misguided. I could've used some weight training at those early stages.
 
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#29
#29
PEPPERJAX said:
Started mowing lawns for $ when I was 14. Straight cash homie! Most lawns were about 25 bucks a cut. Life lesson/funny story? Don't mow over a yellow jacket nest.
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Times sure changed as my first paying gig was lawn mowing at 13. Had 4-5 lawns that paid between $2-$5 in the mid 1970’s. When I was 15 I had saved up enough to buy an old Willys Jeep that we towed home and started working on it to get it running
 
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#30
#30
I got a job at Baskin Robbins when I was 16. I think it paid 2.00/hr. It was easy work and in air conditioning which wasn’t true of all places in the early 70’s. I was too shy and stupid to take advantage of my position when the pretty girls came in. Not the worst job I’ve had but not something I wanted to do for very long either.
 
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#31
#31
My first job was as a paperboy when I was 13. I loved it. It was for the evening paper in Annapolis MD. I’d get off school and ride my bike delivering the paper to homes in town and on the naval academy, and to the brigade of midshipmen. I don’t remember how much I got paid, but my dad figured out that I was being stiffed, so he contacted the newspaper and they discovered the guy responsible for these routes got kids to deliver on he’d skim off the top. He was subsequently arrested for some kind of fraud.
 
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#32
#32
OldandStillaVol said:
I got a job at Baskin Robbins when I was 16. I think it paid 2.00/hr. It was easy work and in air conditioning which wasn’t true of all places in the early 70’s. I was too shy and stupid to take advantage of my position when the pretty girls came in. Not the worst job I’ve had but not something I wanted to do for very long either.
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Was that in Knoxville?
 
#33
#33
golfballs said:
My first job was as a paperboy when I was 13. I loved it. It was for the evening paper in Annapolis MD. I’d get off school and ride my bike delivering the paper to homes in town and on the naval academy, and to the brigade of midshipmen. I don’t remember how much I got paid, but my dad figured out that I was being stiffed, so he contacted the newspaper and they discovered the guy responsible for these routes got kids to deliver on he’d skim off the top. He was subsequently arrested for some kind of fraud.
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I tried delivering papers, but after about a week I hated it. Every single house had instructions exactly where they wanted their paper to be placed. What should have taken less than an hour was taking me 2-3 hours.
 
#34
#34
When I was about 13, I delivered subscription life insurance brochures door to door. Usually in apartment complexes or condo developments. I think I got a nickel per brochure. If someone called about a policy, I got a dollar. If they bought a policy, I got five bucks. Of course, I would beg people to just make the call so I could get a dollar which was probably the whole point of having a kid do that work. First hourly wage job was delivering Chinese food. It was whatever minimum wage was in 1987 plus tips and mileage. If we weren’t on a run, we had to look busy or we’d be put to cleaning bathrooms or something greasy in the kitchen. Life lesson learned was how to look busy without doing anything.
 
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#35
#35
VolunteerHillbilly said:
When I was about 13, I delivered subscription life insurance brochures door to door. Usually in apartment complexes or condo developments. I think I got a nickel per brochure. If someone called about a policy, I got a dollar. If they bought a policy, I got five bucks. Of course, I would beg people to just make the call so I could get a dollar which was probably the whole point of having a kid do that work. First hourly wage job was delivering Chinese food. It was whatever minimum wage was in 1987 plus tips and mileage. If we weren’t on a run, we had to look busy or we’d be put to cleaning bathrooms or something greasy in the kitchen. Life lesson learned was how to look busy without doing anything.
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🤣😂🤣 @ your life lesson learned.
 
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#37
#37
OldandStillaVol said:
Oak Ridge when BR was in their outdoor downtown shopping area.
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I remember when the one at Western Plaza and then the one at West Town opened. I think they really hurt Kay’s Ice Cream’s business. It was considered gourmet at the time and 3 times as expensive.
 
#38
#38
mad4vols said:
I remember when the one at Western Plaza and then the one at West Town opened. I think they really hurt Kay’s Ice Cream’s business. It was considered gourmet at the time and 3 times as expensive.
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I don’t remember Kay’s. I always liked Mayfields best. In the 60’s, my dad would pile us in the station wagon and drive to a place close to the airport and we would all order Mayfields ice cream there.
 
#39
#39
OldandStillaVol said:
I don’t remember Kay’s. I always liked Mayfields best. In the 60’s, my dad would pile us in the station wagon and drive to a place close to the airport and we would all order Mayfields ice cream there.
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Those were the good old days, it was a party in the back of the station wagon.
All the Kay’s had this iconic sign out front.
D138E7C0-0623-4BCB-B4E7-06C08B58DA62.jpeg
 
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#41
#41
My first job I spent the summer as a busboy at Garcia's in Bearden. We handed out the chips and salsa then cleared the tables. Made pretty good money with tip out but had to quit to go to UT in the fall.
 
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#42
#42
utvolpj said:
I seem to remember getting Kay's after hockey games at the ice chalet.
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Yeah it was really close. As a kid I lived at the ice chalet on weekends. You must have been a great skater, I was jealous of the hockey players.
 
#43
#43
First public job was burger king, and I was 16. I made $4.25 an hour, and thought I was rich 🤣. I did work doing other stuff way before that. Used to get coal for older women who lived where we did. I got like 50 cents a bucket, and I'd cut grass and stuff like that. Started painting around 13, and had done a couple of houses my Jr year. I still love to paint, and have occasionally helped do houses here.
 
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#44
#44
joevol33 said:
First public job was burger king, and I was 16. I made $4.25 an hour, and thought I was rich 🤣. I did work doing other stuff way before that. Used to get coal for older women who lived where we did. I got like 50 cents a bucket, and I'd cut grass and stuff like that. Started painting around 13, and had done a couple of houses my Jr year. I still love to paint, and have occasionally helped do houses here.
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Is getting coal for older women like a code word for something?
 
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#46
#46
mad4vols said:
Is getting coal for older women like a code word for something?
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🤣🤣. Wasn't many people with central heat and air back then where I grew up. Most everyone had a coal stove, or coal and wood.
 
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#47
#47
K-town Vol Fan said:
Got my motorcycle license and went to work at Pal's at 15. Min wage was 5.25 but I was hired in at 5.35. Making the big bucks.
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You must have made a good impression on whoever hired you. Me and everyone I knew all started at minimum wage,
 
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#50
#50
walkenvol said:
Times sure changed as my first paying gig was lawn mowing at 13. Had 4-5 lawns that paid between $2-$5 in the mid 1970’s. When I was 15 I had saved up enough to buy an old Willys Jeep that we towed home and started working on it to get it running
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I was 14 in 1997.
 
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