Mom to Mom

[ECBG]

---

@Kachina624 wrote:

My son's  first job was as a clerk and general gofer at a pet store.  We both loved it because we were both crazy about animals.  We had a constant stream of huge aquariums and exotic fish, an iguana, an ugly, evil-looking big black scorpion, a tarantula, gerbils and, of course, a poodle puppy.

He called while at work on day and I heard a demanding voice screaming, "Robert, Robert, Robert!" in the background.  It was the blue & gold macaw he'd hand raised summoning him.

---

@Kachina624 

Did the macaw become yours eventually???

[Kachina624]

@ECBG.  Thankfully no.  I draw the line at birds and snakes.

[ECBG]

---

@Kachina624 wrote:

@ECBG.  Thankfully no.  I draw the line at birds and snakes.

---

@Kachina624 

Snakes are SO icky!!!!!!.....Yet they had to have them.  I said "No way will I get envolved!".  Of course when DH was gone camping we had "snake emergencies".  I said "Deal with it.  Your decision.  I TOLD you!"!!!

[KBEANS]

My son's first job was working the concession stand, serving hot dogs and ice cream and junk food at a local park. He alternated with renting pedal boats on certain days during Spring and Summer.

In the Fall/Winter it would change from working the concession stand serving hot dogs and hot chocolate 😝 and renting the ice skates for the rink.

He was 16 and did this through his college years.

He says it was the best job he ever had and loved!

My younger son worked in a photography studio sifting through negatives. He would come home with his thumbs scraped and bloody.

He worked that job for about a month and a half. He hated it.

He wanted to quit and said he would call the boss and tell him he wasn't coming back.

My husband made it a learning lesson and encouraged him to go in to work and give notice to the boss,  that he would be leaving the job, but would stay on until they got someone else.

The boss was so impressed that a 15 year old would be so responsible.

Within a few days,  the job was filled by another student from his school. The photographer worked with the school giving jobs to the students.

Several years later,  the photographer moved into our building and my son would see him in the elevator and he always commended him on how he handled the situation.

He also told him, he was one of the longest employees that remained in that job, and everyone just ducked out and never came back.😝 

I'm proud of both my sons. They turned out to be fine men.

[JeanLouiseFinch]

---

@LindaSal wrote:

My kids both volunteered at our local library while in middle school.  My son actually went on to work at the library and Blockbuster video through high school and college.   My daughter worked for TJ Maxx through high school as a cashier.  She loved the discounted shopping!

I think it did a lot for them to build character.  Happy they had good experiences doing it.

Good question!

---

I had one who did the summer library assistance too, during MS.

[timeless]

@Goodie2shoes 

My brother was born in 1970 and he had his first job at the grocery store my mom shopped at.  He was a bagger.  I think he was 16.

A couple times he bagged groceries for mom!  LoL

Our son applied for jobs listed at two different grocery stores to do the grocery picking for customers to pick up in the parking lot.  He didn't hear back from either.

He flat out refused to take a job in fast food.  He still hasn't told me why!

[timeless]

@Kachina624 

"He called while at work on day and I heard a demanding voice screaming, "Robert, Robert, Robert!" in the background.  It was the blue & gold macaw he'd hand raised summoning him."

That's funny!  I thought for sure it was his boss.

Sad story about talking birds: A man I worked with years back had a large bird (I think parrot) that was a long-time family member.  He had two kids, around 10-13 years old and he would tell us how they loved that bird.

Unfortunately, his wife had lung cancer and coughed constantly.  She worked from home while the kids and he were away and the bird was around her all day.  It picked up her cough.

When she died, the family had to give their bird up because it continued to cough in "mom's voice". 

This just made me so sad.  Double blow to the family, kwim?

[CalminHeart]

My kids started working parttime in a grocery store, mostly bagging groceries. It was a good experience for them.

I still laugh about my first job. I lied about my age - it was 1967 and no one checked age. Huge and inexpensive cowboy style steakhouses were big back then. I bused tables at one. My parents were so nice about driving me back and forth - clear across the city. But it's where my friends worked. I had a lot of fun but I found a job closer to home about 6 months later. 

[nova]

@Kachina624   You are very brave!  A scorpion & a tarantula together are the things miy nightmares are made of!  I used to teach pre-K many years ago & a young student brought in his pet tarantula (in a cage) to show the class for show and tell.  i was so frightened I was holding in a massive wave of panic I could not show in front of my students.  I couldn't get through his show & tell fast enough!

[Carmie]

My daughter worked at Baskin Robbins after school and during the summer months.

My youngest son worked at Hershey Park in a sit down resturant in the kitchen.  During the winter, he worked at a fancy resturant in the kitchen.  He washed dishes at first, then went on to cooking.

My oldest son took an electrical course in HS and worked as an electrician wiring new builds during the school year and during the summer. He was even given his own truck to use.