My first job.

What was your first paying gig as a teen? What impact do you think it had on how you see work now? What's your dream job? How close are you to it or are you doing it now??

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Permalink Reply by lyfenlyn on February 17, 2009 at 10:43am

Tom Skerrit used to always come in the rekkid stowe where I worked with his son. When people spotted him he'd always drop his head trying to sort of hide. But people would always come and be like 'youre that guy'. I mean he's always 'that guy' because he's been the composite dad in so many movies...

Rosenda said:

Tell me about it, Temba. These so called rich and priveliged people especially in that Beverly Hills/Century City area I worked in for 3 years straight, they'd want you to lay down and die for them and lick their shoes before you said the last rites. For nothing! I'm good at being polite but damn they'd get bitchy during the holiday season and during big sales like it was their lives on the line if you didn't let them barge in front of the other 15 people in line to buy the crappy (some of it) merchandise that had been marked up 400% to begin with (and no, I'm not exaggerating, because my first office job was in Robinson's buying office).

You know, I worked a LOT of those damn 12 hour sales (which ended up being a 14 hour workday) in just the regular old working class people stores JC Penney and May Company, and I NEVER saw anybody cutting up acting all kinds of stupid and rude during those sales. But go work the same time of year in the "upper class" store, and DAMN! it's drama almost all day long with those people.

There was this one dude who I swear was always wearing the exact same sweatshirt and pants and sneakers, all of them faded and worn out and holey, and his hair never looked combed, and he was in Bullocks on a regular basis buying stuff.

Ruben in Luggage actually went up to the dude out of curiosity and found a polite way of asking the man about his appearance. The man turned out to be extremely wealthy man who was one of the major producers in 20th Century Fox studios (which was right around the corner from Bullocks) and dude told Ruben that he DELIBERATELY dressed like a bum, so that he'd REALLY know who was being honest with him and who would truly respect his real self and personality and not just judge him on the Armani suits and 400$ shoes. Maaaan, I cracked the hell up when Ruben told me about the guy. And seriously, i don't blame him. Dude told him that he'd been burned and used by some many men and women in business and personal life when they knew he was a rich man, he found his own way to weed out the suckers.

The only thing I did not like about the cosmetics sales job at The Broadway (and it was a parttime 2nd job gig that year) was that a lot of women who go shopping aren't going because they really want or need anything, they are just bored with money to blow. They ENJOY you pitching something "new" to them. And a true salesman/saleswoman can sell anything to anybody with little effort. Some people just have that gift and I really don't. I have to actually like the person or the product I'm selling to do so and even then it's VERY hard for me to do without feeling shy and uncomfortable.

These women would come to the cosmetics bay and literally want to be sold something. I on the other hand, I would ask what they wanted and think that was enough. They'd literally ask "what new colors would look good on me?" or "what's new and hip now?" I mean I could tell them but my opinion is not always what the customer wanted to hear.

Seriously, if I thought another line's product of a particular item they are looking for was better quality or better value than what they wanted from my line, I'd honestly tell them so. And actually....it worked out to my advantage many times in the beginning. Because I was still nice to them anyway, they'd end up buying stuff from me regardless, then they would go to the line I'd suggested and buy something from them.

I remember my friend told me that the full time girl who worked where I did was pissed at first because I was selling more than she was and I was only working part time evenings and weekends.

YOU MET GEORGE JEFFERSON???? Sherman Helmsley is AWESOME!!! And is Lisa Lopes as pretty in person? I always thought she was so cute.

Permalink Reply by XiaMin on March 5, 2009 at 10:43pm

My first job (work/study 16) was at Thrifty's in San Pedro. I worked there like 2 months at the ice cream counter. All I learned from that job was they give you a stupid math skills test and that you can safely assume that any open cone containers have roaches. I always gave my dad and bro cones from a new box when they came in, and I ate 2 scoops in a waffle cone for lunch everyday. I don't even remeber what they paid but at that time (early 1991) $3 something sounds about right. I had to get my hair braided one day so I told my boss I didn't have a babysitter, then we got into this whole discussion about my (fictional) kid who I said was 2. Did I mention I was 16? I got the day off and never went back. Yay stereotypes.

I also worked as telephone actress in college (read sex phone girl). It was ok cause I worked from home and they paid a sliding scale ... $7/hr to start which was good money but the longer you kept people on the line the more your pay went up, so if you averaged more than a certain amount of minutes each week you got $8 for every hour worked and so on. But it really does make you somewhat jaded. Good intro to the depravity and nice to justify by telling yourself you're keeping some perv off the streets but whatever. I quit because the the rawness of the job started crossing over into real life, like cock this an motherfucker that and suck this and whatever. seriosuly. I agree with whoever said everyone should do a stint in the sex industry. good times.

I was then a lab tech and now a translator. Both jobs I really loved when I started but for different reasons have come to just put up with. In these times I guess I'm just happy to have job security. well, kinda happy I guess.

My dream job is not to work. Not to find a sugar daddy and go shopping, not to have a trust fund, not to do anything but just not have to work and still live. I don't have any grand fantasies like traveling the world or hiking everest instead of working, I'm just sick of the grind of going. to. work. every. goddamn. day. and knowing that it's not a choice for me (like for some) but a life or death/ eat or starve necessity makes it all the worse. Sometimes I daydream about having a goat farm and making artisan goat cheese, but that is in no way my passion, I don't know shit about goat farming except I like the goat milk my granny gave me in Barbados. I don't know shit about cheese except it's delicious. It's just something that gets me through the day at times...it's a happy place to go to when dealing with stupid mf's. lol. Holy shit, is this what weary feels like, yes then I guess so. Ha!

Permalink Reply by Rhinos Have More Fun on March 5, 2009 at 11:32pm

Rosenda said:

YOU MET GEORGE JEFFERSON???? Sherman Helmsley is AWESOME!!! And is Lisa Lopes as pretty in person? I always thought she was so cute.

Hahah--yeah, the Sherman Hemsley encounter was really brief, though. He walked right to the world music section and asked me where to find the calypso music. Yes, Lisa Lopes was definitely a beautiful sight in person, but at that time she much less "dolled up" than she tended to be in later years.

Permalink Reply by ShayShayLafunk on March 16, 2009 at 6:41pm

My first job was telemarketing in high school. They paid cash weekly. I thought I was balling with my $300 a week no taxes at 16 years old!!! :-)
I could buy all the black rubber armband, tight jeans & Doc Marteens I wanted then ...lol

I learned to drink coffee on that late shift ..damn it , now I'm stuck :-) I also learned to get your paycheck before you curse your no good lecherous boss out. Luckily my thug a$$ homie was quitting too and shook our money out of the perv...lol

I don't really have a dream job , since a job means I would still be working. Booo!! Hiss!!

I may have a dream past time/ career that I would love to just generate money just because...LOL
I think I'll have a Patron Margarita and mull it over and get back to yah :-)

Permalink Reply by Rhinos Have More Fun on March 16, 2009 at 9:58pm

XiaMin said:

My first job (work/study 16) was at Thrifty's in San Pedro. I worked there like 2 months at the ice cream counter.

You mean the one on Gaffey, right? Wow--that's funny--I never really knew you lived in CA. I pass that one every morning on the way to work.

Permalink Reply by XiaMin on March 17, 2009 at 3:39am

Yep on Gaffey. It's still there then. :) Hello, do you live in Pedro or go to Pedro High? I did. I hear it's changed a lot since then though, I see stories on it occasionally in the Times. And I looked it up on Goggle Earth street view, but it was kinda depressing. lol. Good Times. good times. ;x

Rhinos Have More Fun said:

XiaMin said:
My first job (work/study 16) was at Thrifty's in San Pedro. I worked there like 2 months at the ice cream counter.

You mean the one on Gaffey, right? Wow--that's funny--I never really knew you lived in CA. I pass that one every morning on the way to work.

Permalink Reply by Afrotechnica on March 17, 2009 at 11:02am

I worked concrete at the age of 13 in Ohio. I got paid $2.60/hr. For weeks on end I would: wake up, work, shower, eat sleep. Nothing inbetween for 5 days. The pay checks were a whomping $75. LOL!
It kept out of trouble though during those Detroit summers.