I did the same in Taylors, SC. Had about 6 yards in my neighborhood.
My first real job, punching a clock, was bagging groceries at Community Cash.
First job
- Thread starter Viennacock
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My first real job, punching a clock, was bagging groceries at Community Cash.
I worked at MackDonalds in Irmo when I was 16. Mom drove me to the restaurant to get an application after I asked for $20 one summer.
Laborer for my father's construction company in Rock Hill. 1977-81 during summers of my high school and college years. Hard work but I learned a lot which came in handy once I became a homeowner. He only did commercial jobs like banks, schools, churches and a ton of work out at Celanese. Lots of concrete pouring. I was especially valuable because I had a driver's license. Most of my coworkers had DUIs. They cashed their paychecks at the red dot ABC store. 
Blockbuster video in the mid 90's, and I did it all. The register. The floor giving customers my expert movie reviews. Rearranging displays. Spending hours rewinding returned movies. Calling people at home to remind them of their unpaid late fees! Doing this I got cursed out more than any 15 year old kid making minimum wage should. 
Crazy how these brick and mortar stores have become dinosaurs in a relatively short period. Blockbuster put many mom and pop stores out of business. Technology did the same to them.Blockbuster video in the mid 90's, and I did it all. The register. The floor giving customers my expert movie reviews. Rearranging displays. Spending hours rewinding returned movies. Calling people at home to remind them of their unpaid late fees! Doing this I got cursed out more than any 15 year old kid making minimum wage should.
the 1st paycheck I received was dishwasher at Quincy's across from the Peach Bowl in Greer
McDonalds in high school, then lawn care and construction grunt during summers while in college at Carolina. McDonald’s paid 3.15 an hour. Thought I was making bank when the other jobs paid 5.00
Delivered a weekly paper in Charlotte area. At 14, I got a work permit and a job at The Village Market, a neighborhood grocery store.
I was a stocker and bagger at Bi-LO in high school. Then I worked at SCETV for 40 years. Started when I was 19
I started working in an upscale women's dress shop when I was 14. When I turned 16 Belk hired me and I worked there through high school and college. The Belk people were really good to me. This was when you actually got waited on when you went into a department store.
I was lucky to get some work cutting grass or manual labor odd jobs in middle school. I’m a little younger than most folks on this board. In the area where I lived more and more folks (particularly the older neighbors) were hiring professional landscaping companies.
By the time I was 16 was able to get work in fast food and restaurant industry. I loved it. Was able to get a lot of hours and enjoy some free food along the way too!
By the time I was 16 was able to get work in fast food and restaurant industry. I loved it. Was able to get a lot of hours and enjoy some free food along the way too!
Girl Scout Camp near Kings Mountain / GASTONIA.. (15-17)...MOM WAS CAMP NURSE...I did a little of everything...hung out with camp counselors...enjoyed experience
Yep, that's the story of business - somebody comes along that does a better job of giving the customer whatever they are looking for. I remember going to Blockbuster to rent a movie for that night and complaining that we'd spent so much time looking through the all the the titles that we'd used up a good bit of our movie-watching night. Now, I scroll through Prime and Netflix looking for something to watch and before I know it, I've spent 45 minutes looking around and watching trailers. The more things change, the more they stay the same, I guess.
This was pretty much my model as well, cut grass and then bagged groceries. My dad was in the real estate business, so I was able to cut a lot of yards of vacant third-party REO listings. They paid very well and the quality threshold was well below the demands of an owner-occupied residence
Spent the summer of 1971 cleaning up abandoned 18th century graveyards. Some were way out in the wilderness and "discovered" by historical researchers of the colonial era.
Started off washing cars and cutting grass. In elementary school, dad took me to work in his paint and body shop. 8-6 or later M-F and 8-2 on Saturdays. 4 weeks before I was to start college he was electrocuted in his shop. Found a job in the local hardware store. We handled the sporting supplies for the high schools in York, Chester and Lancaster counties. At 18, the owner asked me to take over management of the sports division but I said no. Went to work for Marvin Hyatt. A lot of you have seen him getting the Garnet Jacket on the football field in 2 separate occasions. He was huge supporter of USC both athletically and academically
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Cut lots of yards as a youngster and a summer job with my neighbor who installed septic tanks and also had a "Honey Wagon". Hated that part of the job. First payroll check job was with a silk screen printing company printing babies shirts and tee shirts. Had a summer job in high school with a company that did sheet metal stamping work. Lots of men there were missing a finger or 2. Junior year of high school drove a school bus and worked at L&N Royal Tire Co recapping tires and unloading and loading two tractor trailers with truck tires and road grader tires. When I got a job at UPS, Mr Leonard offered me a raise from $1.25 to $1.30 an hour to stay. Had to tell him I would be making $2.25 an hour and no Saturday work...
I worked for a landscape/garden outfit in the summertime. Dirty and brutally hot all summer, it was a wonder I was able to maintain any weight at all as much as I sweated out all day long.
It was a exceptional learning opportunity, I swore that I was not going to work like this for the rest of my days.
It was a exceptional learning opportunity, I swore that I was not going to work like this for the rest of my days.
First job with an official FICA paycheck was 10 hours a week cleaning and stocking the pantry at a Gulf station convenience store (back in the 80s before Gulf became BP). I was 15 and a friend of the family at church was the manager. Bathroom duty was gross but “character building”.
I decided in my pride that education would get me out of cleaning other people’s bathrooms, so I trained to be a lifeguard. On day one at the country club swimming pool the next summer, my first job was to clean the bathroom.
Years later, after dental school, when we opened our own practice, I can assure you we could not afford to pay a janitor service. So you guessed it, I was the weekend cleaning crew for several years. I was happy when we could finally afford to have the office taken care of by a cleaning service, because by then, I had three little boys in the house who sprayed like garden hoses.
The moral of the story: You are never too important or too educated to clean up someone else’s toilet.
I decided in my pride that education would get me out of cleaning other people’s bathrooms, so I trained to be a lifeguard. On day one at the country club swimming pool the next summer, my first job was to clean the bathroom.
Years later, after dental school, when we opened our own practice, I can assure you we could not afford to pay a janitor service. So you guessed it, I was the weekend cleaning crew for several years. I was happy when we could finally afford to have the office taken care of by a cleaning service, because by then, I had three little boys in the house who sprayed like garden hoses.
The moral of the story: You are never too important or too educated to clean up someone else’s toilet.