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Christmas in B&W

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[Pat]

Hi Everyone,

Have you ever had a particularly unusual or interesting job; a really fun job or a job you just hated?  What was your very first job?  

My first job was clerking in the old Kresge Five and Dime in the early sixties.
 
In the very early eighties my husband and I along with our two kids then aged ten and thirteen started a small business in our spare bedroom custom building computers.  Our customers included NASA, NOAA, and most major universities and hospitals, and major motion picture companies even though we never grew larger than a small store front and hired three college aged kids to help.  Then came the big box stores selling IBMs, Gateways, MACs.....

Retirement's great

Pat

[Tess (Tassie D)]

My first job was working in a bank, hated it. So I moved on the working in a fuel station where I met my hubby. Fell in love with both lol and we ended up a few years later with our own station.
Also worked processing onions for a few years and have done the last two national census collections. I'm not old enough to retire.

[Pat]

Tess, processing onions sounds interesting -and tearful?  I met my hubby in kindergarten.  His mom said he came home from school and told her he was going to marry me.

Pat

[Johnboy]

My first job was an "office boy" which was mainly janitorial emptying waste baskets at a local company after school and during the summer. Also washed windows there too. It paid money.

My next summer job I really loved and that was working at a boat livery on Lake Erie. They rented fishing boats. I put a boat on a large dolly, added an outboard motor, cushions, and life jackets. Then got to ride the dolly along with the boat and the people going fishing into the water. Also retrieved the boats on an empty dolly which can get interesting with waves on the lake. On hot summer days it was a swim suit and tennis shoe job. Otherwise I wore hipboots. In my younger years we vacationed near the same boat livery. Then when I was 10 we moved to the area. I really thought the guys doing this job were real cool. I did this for three years in high school and freshman year in college before moving on to a different summer job.

I agree with Pat that retirement is great.

Johnboy

[lurch]

My first job, if I remember it right, was selling men's underwear at Montgomery Ward. Really, really boring!

[jesterjeni]

my first job was taking big rocks away from the boat landing and running a baitshop, I was 12!
not only was I paid cash but I got all the free fudge bars I could eat!

[kiska]

I worked as a waitress one summer during college in Ocean City, MD.

[Hannie]

Like Tess my first job was a bank,  I was only 15 at the time and the job was terribly boring.
A little over a year I left The Netherlands and went to Germany working at a US Airforce base as an au pair. 
Job turned out to be more a cleaning job than looking after a child.  No time off and very little pay but I did meet my present husband there so it was fun after all!

Hannie

[Pat]

Let’s see so far we have:

Onions and fuel stations with future hubby,
A real cool guy swim suit and tennis shoe job at a boat livery 
Bait shop with unlimited free fudge bars –stomach aches too?
Men’s underwear
College summer in Ocean City waiting tables
Au pair meets future husband

What fun it is to learn the variety of early jobs you all have had.  And if any of you have an old photo of yourself or pertaining to that time in your life that you’d like to share we’d love to see it also.

Pat

[Tori803]

My first job (not working for family) was working after school in a small print shop. Although they were using offset presses they occasionally still cast lead type. I was called in to help collate book signatures by hand when they had extra large orders. The manager's kids also worked there after school and had been since they were little. So the 5-year-old could collate faster than I could! I discovered you can become faster and more skillful if you're willing to apply yourself. I learned some great life lessons there!

Tori

[kiska]

Alrighty den. I'll go first. This is me and a roommate's rear end in our garage apt. in Ocean City.

[Pat]

Great photo Kiska, thanks!  Looks like the rest of you may need some prompting so...

Johnboy surely you can dredge up a real cool photo of your boat livery days?

Tess are there no photos of that fuel station where you and hubby met or just one of you and hubby before he was hubby?

Lurch not sure we need photos of boxers or briefs  but I bet there’s a special photo of yourself or of that time period in your life?
 
Jesterjeni got a photo of that bait shop you used to run or maybe one of yourself at twelve?

Hannie you must have a photo taken during your time in Germany when you and hubby met?

Tori surely you have an old photo circa your print shop days?

[Mhayes]

My first job was as a waitress at Colonial Fountain & Grill while going to college. It wasn't the worst job, but it gave me a glimpse of how obnoxious some people are to servers. I remember one fellow who seemed to enjoy being a pain and I returned the favor by giving him a chocolate malt with a straw that had bits of nuts added.  

Pat, sorry to be so slow, but didn't realize that having a new puppy means less sleep.

Margie

[Tess (Tassie D)]

Lol Kiska, looks like your roomie drew the short straw for cleaning the bathroom.

Ok here we are, weren't we young looking! The price of the fuel gives its age away, just on 50c per litre and now we have nearly $1.50!

[Pat]

Tess, what an adorable looking couple you are in that photo!!  Young love

Margie, what do the kitties think of their new sibling?  Got to be some good photo op's there!