For instance, my first job was at Dairy Queen. I was 15. I never could do that little curlicue at the top of the cone perfectly, but I was able to perfect mistakes...edible mistakes.
"Oh, I'm sorry. You wanted a strawberry sundae and not a hot fudge sundae? Just a minute, I'll get rid of this hot fudge one and make you a strawberry one," and then I'd scuttle off to the walk-in freezer with the hot fudge-ice cream creation, so I could eat it later. (We were allowed to eat our mistakes, but I don't think we were supposed to deliberately make them. Every day.)
I worked a summer for the Youth Conservation Corps on an all-girl crew when I was 17, stringing barbed wire and digging post holes by hand. Once the caretaker killed a rattlesnake in the middle of the night as he walked some of us to the latrine (he hacked it to death with a shovel) , and told us, "Its mate will come looking for it." (I'm sure he was trying to scare us to get back at some of the stupid girls who flushed things down the toilet they were not supposed to flush.)
My first job out of high school was at a factory. I ran a machine that put together medicine capsules. The place stunk. If I pulled the two parts of the press together with too much force, the capsules would end up with poked-in spots, and they would have to discarded. There were many times I'd have to dump a whole tray of the capsules into the trashcan. That job only lasted a couple of weeks. (I ended up getting my finger caught in the press and cutting off the tip. After a trip to the emergency room, and making a mess of their press, they thought it was time for me to retire from that field.)
One of my
Interspersed here and there were waitressing jobs. I worked at some fairly-nice places (Steak and Ale, and Victoria Station) along with Denny's, but I was a gawk. Once, I spilled an entire Bloody Mary on a businessman there at Steak and Ale for a business lunch. (No tip for me that time!)
I've been a teacher since 1991, a teacher-consultant for the National Writing Project since 2001, and am now a freelance writer. In fact, I just heard this past weekend that a story of mine has made the first cut for the Not Your Mother's Book...On Family. (They're still looking at stories, as the deadline has not happened yet, and my story could be booted off before it hits the presses. But I'm keeping my fingers crossed.)
What important things have you learned while on your jobs? What was your favorite job or your most unfavorite job (and why)? Come on...take a trip down memory lane, and take us along with you.
I would have eaten my own weight in curly Q mistakes if I'd worked at DQ. A CASKET SELLER? Now that takes the prize!
ReplyDeleteWhat sort of capsuless did you stuff...and was it really by hand and not automated? When I worked at the photo store, wehad to edge the red border on Christmas cards by hand, Never look up when you're running a red marker around the edges of a photo card!
Linda--I DID eat my weight in mistakes. But in those days, I weighed a lot less...
DeleteWow, you guys had such varied experiences. I am sure it contributes to your imagination in writing today! Oh, and sorry about the Afghanistan mix up. You had me on that one!
ReplyDeleteBookie--Yes, it's all fodder for stories...
Delete(And no apology necessary. I think it was my fault. That's why we have to be clear in our writing--so people don't get the wrong impression.)
I gave out wine samples in college at the 905 Liquor Store! There were many interesting stories there, and I'm basing a novel character on someone I met there! No missing digits, though!
ReplyDeleteMary--Wine samples? Novel? Did we know about this? ;)
DeleteOne of my proudest moments, perhaps, was learning the tipping point that made the company bookkeeper hire me as a cashier at the insurance salvage store. "Well, after your interview, I told the boss, 'She looks clean. I'm going to hire her.'"
ReplyDeleteVal--That makes me wonder how scary/sketchy/grimy the other applicants were...
DeleteYou peddled caskets door-to-door like Typhoid-Mary-Kay? Really? I am so impressed that anyone let you in. Ask not for whom the doorbell tolls...! I sold tickets for Clown Capades over the phone for one morning until I escaped at lunch and never went back. I don't even know what clown capades are. I suspect it was a front, or maybe it was code for something.
ReplyDeleteTammy--Clown Capades? The name alone is too funny!
DeleteMy unfavorite job was working the night shift in a factory that produced jugs of kitchen cleaner. I adapted it for my poem "A Year In The Factory." I didn't last long there. A week, if that.
ReplyDeleteShay--A factory job AND the night shift? That was doubly horrible.
ReplyDeleteThose are certainly some interesting jobs...especially the door-to-door funeral one. Got to be some good stories there!
ReplyDeletePat
Critter Alley
Pat--Sadly, that job didn't last long enough to result in lots of stories. My waitressing jobs, and when I worked in a vocational school (a job I didn't mention in this post) exposed me to lots of "unique" characters...
DeleteSorry about your fingertip . . . hard earned lesson. The DQ job sounds like my Pizza Hut job. I was a waitress, but if we were slow enough I'd get into the kitchen. We used to have mistakes (not) all the time. Pretty much whatever pizza we were hungry for ended up being a "mistake." Oops.
ReplyDeleteLisa--Unfortunately for us, our writing mistakes aren't as tasty as they were in our DQ/Pizza Hut days...
Delete(On the positive side, they aren't as fat-laden as pizza or ice cream, either.)
You are such a well-rounded person! And I'm not just refering to the DQ indulgences.
ReplyDeleteMan, do I have some work experiences. Wrapping raw meat - including pig's feet - at a grocery store where I also let the chicken fryer boil over onto a new shipment of bread. My timecard was simply not in it's slot the next shift. Once I was hired because I am not a woman of color - didn't accept that job. I've been a child care worker, a secretary, a cook, a bookkeeper, the clueless person you get when you call about your ins policy or your credit card - both awful experiences. Then I went into medical stuff, hospitals and private physician offices. HIPPA restricts what I can use from that rich vein. (Get it - there's a pun there.) Then I started my own editing service. Love it but very time comsuming. I'm finally a writer and that suits me best. Unfortunately the pay is the worst yet.
Marcia--The vein pun was funny. Wrapping meat all day--that seems like it would be gross.
ReplyDeleteWriting may not pay scads of money, but the perks are incredible. Being surrounded by pens and sharpened pencils. Being an expert on how to digress on the internet. ("It's research!") The excitement of getting published WITHOUT pay...It's an exciting life.