The first job that I can remember that was not an odd job was as a phone solicitor at age 16. Due to my poor sales and phone skills, that job did not last very long. Not long after that, I ended up doing a short 2 week stint as a printer making signs for Garden Fresh Markets. I am sure I did not do a great job, but it was money and it helped augment my grass cutting money that I got from the 1-2 yards I mowed each week. Of course during my teen years that was spent on model cars.
My father did not want me to work while I was in high school so my grades would not suffer (which I find ironic since he did not want me to attend college), but when I graduated he encouraged me to get a job. I tried many times but it was not easy...the only jobs were fast food and I was never getting a call back from them. However, one of the "Chunki Junkies", LuLu, talked to the Manager of the local McDonald's and I got an interview and was hired.
I had that job for about 4 years, working every station and sometimes multiple ones. I was moved to crew trainer (even when I was a stupid young adult I still knew how to teach) and later to mgmt trainee...right before I was fired. Yeah, I got fired over something childish, but I thought that was a bit harsh. The crew handbook stated that any behavior on or off the clock, on or off McDonald's property unbecoming an employee was punishable by death...err...dismissal (sorry, I was having a Law and Order moment). So my first infraction (actually mine and my cousin's...he was involved as well) caused me to be fired. I was off the clock and off the property, no one was hurt, nothing was damaged...the only injury was to someone's pride. Live and learn!
24 hours after being fired, I got a job at a Chinese fast food place called Manchu Wok. It was in the mall about 10 miles from my house. My (then) wife worked in the same mall so we could carpool and that worked well until I decided to move from one restaurant to another. While neither job was stellar, the other place Stewart's (of root beer fame) was willing to hire me at a much higher rate. So I quit my job at Manchu Wok and went to work at Stewart's. It seems that they hired more people than they needed, so I was not given the same rate I was originally quoted. It was however 40+ hours a week and only 5 days, versus 36 hour/6 days a week at Manchu Wok. My kitchen partner was a lesbian (at that time I really did not care...pre-Christian days...) who by all accounts was a very attractive fem. Her partner was a butch police office could take on most guys (she was very masculine) and kept the them at bay. Being married, I had no right or interest in the fem so I just ignored her. Ignoring her tended to be difficult since she would change clothes IN THE KITCHEN area at night while we closed up. Weird.
Sales at Stewart's were lower than the owners expected so they had to let me go. That was scary since I had never been unemployed for more than 24 hours. I was a bit concerned since my (then) wife and I had no money saved up and I was beginning to look like a loser to her. She had a good retail job as an asst mgr and I was currently an unemployed fast food grunt.. I had planned to check the local restaurants in the area when Carp told me that his bosses father ran a bakery and could use some help. I went and talked to the owner and started that week.
The bakery job lasted about a year. While there, I was asked to come back to work Saturday's at Stewart's for cash and all the food I could eat. It helped out because my (then) wife worked a big part of Saturday and she could drop me off and we could ride home together. The extra money helped pay for gas used by our clunker car. During my stint at the bakery, my (then) wife and I had major issues causing us to separate and eventually lead her to leave WV and move to NC. The company she worked for needed a Store Manager and she was given the promotion. After she moved away I was left sitting high and dry with a small mortgage and a car payment. My paycheck at the bakery did not begin to cover my expenses and I was not sure what to do. While I was walking in LA (Lower Adamston) I ran in to JRP, a old high school buddy of mine. He was just out of the Navy and needed a place to stay. We negotiated rent and he moved in. That was a bad idea and I realized it almost immediately, but I was too depressed to worry about it at that time.
A couple of months later my (then) wife asked if we could reconcile and I agreed. She made plans to receive me in NC and I gave my 2 weeks notice at the bakery. My father volunteered to move me to NC just a couple of days before my 24th birthday. One week after arriving in NC, I started working at Circuit City in the warehouse. The pay was not great, but it was more than I made at the bakery. The cost of living was also higher, but we both were making more money so it worked for us...for a while.
I stayed at Circuit City just short of five years. During that period I divorced my (then) wife and changed from warehouse, to lead man, to customer service. I also started dating my (now) wife towards the end of that time. In retrospect, I probably grew up more during that 5 year period than any other period to date. While working at CC I also worked part time at Things Remembered where my (then) wife worked. That turned out to be a bad idea as well but we needed the extra money. I worked a Christmas season (before my (then) wife and I split) and that was enough.
After my stint at Circuit City, I was hired into white collar corporate America. GTE Mobilnet (Now Verizon) hired me as a customer service rep. I was nervous, excited, scared, and thrilled...all at the same time. I would finally be out of the physical or menial labor market. ..I was a shirt and tie guy. I do not know how I lasted in that job...I was a lousy rep on the phones. My call volume was always over 100, but my customer service skills really sucked (well at least to me...I never received any formal complaints). After about a year on the phones, I was moved into the tech support department. That change was one that I welcomed...I was getting burned out on the phones. It had less customer interaction and I was able to learn more from the technical side. After about a year or so I was asked to be acting supervisor of tech support. I did that job faithfully for about three months when I was recruited for a job at Ericsson in April of 1996. My interview lasted six hours and I was offered the job within a week. The offer was 25% more than I was making at GTE and I eventually doubled my salary before my time there was over.
Ericsson took care of me for about seven and a half years. I was promoted from L3 cell phone support, then transferred to IT on the help desk, then to a team lead, and finally to a help desk supervisor. During my last role I was asked if I would relocate from NC to Texas (summer 2001) and while I was very eager to do so, my wife and son were not. Along with their help I made a chart listing the pro's and con's of moving and staying. In the end, they both agreed moving was best and they have not regretted it.
A couple of years after I arrived in Texas (summer 2003), Ericsson decided to outsource IT services to the company I work for now. I will be honest and tell you that I was not happy at all. I really liked Ericsson and I felt betrayed. However after I looked at what was done for us, I lost my bitterness. We were given a raise to compensate for the higher cost of benefits with the new company and our service years with Ericsson transferred over as well. For me that meant I joined the company with seven and a half service years on my very first day of work and that I was also fully vested. That could mean a lot if I were to retire or get laid off from them.That was more than three years ago. I am getting close to 11 service years with my current company and while things are not rosy, the are not bad. On the side I keep busy by mowing grass and working on PC issues for friends and I like doing that. Keeps me young :) .
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