DA Lubricant putting cardboard boxes together. I learned not to accidentally break car windshields showing off to my girlfriend. That was why I had to get the job.
Bressler's Ice Cream in Sharpstown Mall. Didn't pay well, but all the ice cream that I wanted. Fortunately I was very active so I didn't get fat from it all.
Paper-Round Taught me that if you hide papers under your bed claiming to have delivered them, you'll get caught.
I started mowing lawns when I was 13. But my dad provided the lawnmower and fuel, so I don't really think that counts. I worked at the Kemah Boardwalk as a Game Attendant when I was 16. It was a pretty good job to have for someone who was that young and inexperienced, but the management got worse and worse as time went on. There was an assistant manager who would literally hide in the bushes to make sure we were standing up straight. This weird lady in her 50s creeping around in the bushes. It was ridiculous. Taught me that "managers" will make you miserable if they themselves are miserable.
That was my first too. I learnt a similar lesson to you... there's only so many times you can claim someone is stealing an entire streets worth of papers. Really was a ****ty job getting up early for basically no money.
I notice that there are at least two people on this thread who seem to take pride in having "tricked the system" (either taking resources unlawfully or getting paid for hours not having done any actual work).
Selling popcorn, peanuts and sodas at HS football games for a local drink company on Okinawa.... .50/hr During the summer DOD would hire us dependents to keep us off the streets. My little group were given hand tools and a deuce 1/2 from Vietnam and told to tear it apart. WHAT A JOB! .65/hr
I had a paper route with a buddy of mine. Delivering the papers wasn't so hard, but rolling all those papers and stuffing them in the plastic bags was incredibly hard and time consuming. One day the paper company called and said one of the customers had complained that they hadn't been getting their delivery. We went by and the guy had weeks of papers still in his driveway that he'd never bother to walk out and get.
EDIT: Those were my first jobs in the USA. In switzerland, I ran our dorm's food / drink store. Got to keep a about 10% of the profits. Wasn't a bad gig. Basically ran it out of my closet and they had to knock on my door. My first job was delivering food for Burger Boy in College Station......quit after about 2 months. First real job was working as an EMT-B for St. Joseph EMS in Bryan, TX. That was a fun job, covering Burleson and Grimes county as 911.
First job was delivering pizza for some ma and pa shop in Cypress. I was 16 and only worked for tips....and the manager would let my band (crappy Rush tribute band) play in the parking lot on Saturday nights. All you need to know about this place is that the owner drove a custom van with a nude painting of his wife on the side. Oh, and he once threatened me with a knife. What did I learn? I learned that playing in a band and butchering La Villa Strangiato in the middle of a dumpy pizza parlor parking lot on a Saturday night does NOT increase your chances of getting laid at ALL.
First job was a sacker at Randall's when I was 16. I was apparently so bad at it that they simply removed me from the schedule after a few weeks. When I asked they said it was clear that I was not motivated to see it through long term. I probably would have killed myself if I was motivated enough to have seen it though long term.
Bagged groceries at Kroger when I was 16. Met the following Rockets: Kevin Willis Avery Johnson Sam Mack Brent Price Kenny Smith and a few others I can't remember
Skate Park of Houston (1984) Taught me how to skate, build ramps, pour/sell soft drinks, break bones. Among other things...
