Summer Jobs

Since school got out, we've been "suggesting" to Daniel that it would be a good idea to get a summer job. He's at a bit of a disadvantage since he doesn't actually turn 16 until August and many places won't hire anyone that is not 16. We finally persuaded him to speak to the manager at the local Associated Foods store (which he actually did) and filled out an application. It got me thinking about my string of jobs through my youth.

1. Newspaper Carrier (from about 10-15 years old). When I was just 10, I started out sharing the route with my sister Shari. We each took a couple of days a week and we both did Sunday morning. When I was about 12, I took the paper route over entirely. Worst part: Charlie the doberman pincer at the top of 31st Street (I still have panic attacks when I see dobermans) and the monthly task of collecting money from each of the 55 houses. (Why didn't they think of automatic bank withdrawals sooner?) Best part: A lot of spending money for a 12-year old and on Sunday mornings my Mom would get up with me at 6 am and she would deliver a couple of streets while I ran the other direction with a stack of papers in my arms. It was always a race to see who could finish first.

2. Balloon Salesman. This was probably THE worst job on my entire career. A man in our ward (Bob Gourley?) would dress up as a clown for the 24th of July parade and drive a box car up and down Washington Blvd. He hired my friend and me to carry big bunches of balloons up and walk up and down the street yelling, "Balloons for sale." Worst parts: The balloon strings got tangled and I couldn't get balloons out for people. I had to walk home from 25th & Washington to our house on 33rd & Gramercy because I had no money to use a pay phone. (He didn't pay us until several days later.)

3. Weeder at Der Wienerschnitzel. My uncle opened a new franchise in Ogden and hired me to pull some weeds in the rock work out front. I worked really hard to get all the weeds. The problem was that I also pulled up all of the ground cover and left the area completely void of any plant life. (Kind of ironic for someone who would eventually become a landscape architect!)



4. George's Market. I started work at George's when I turned 15. It was a small corner grocery store on the corner of 36th and Quincy. It was a quasi-convenience store, but without gasoline. I worked from age 15 to my first year of college, just before leaving on my mission. After being there for several years, I was "promoted" to preparing the sandwiches---the Big George (a submarine sandwich) and the Little George (a smaller version) were favorites. I also enjoyed making the chicken and potato logs. Worst part: Cleaning the bottom of the milk cooler and cleaning up broken bottles of beer (the smell of it makes me sick to my stomach!). Most exciting parts: We received a bomb threat one evening when I was closing (at 1 am). The police came and searched the store, but found nothing. But the MOST scary time was a night I was closing with my boss and as we were locking up the store. The phone rang and my boss, thinking it was his roommate, ran to the side wall to pick up the phone as I held the front door open. The next thing I knew, my boss as motioning to me to come inside and lock the door. He ducked down and motioned to me to lock the door and follow him to the back room. The man on the phone said he had a gun pointed at us and we were supposed to take all of the money and leave it in a bag out in front of the store. We tried calling the police, but the man stayed on the phone and wouldn't hang up, so every time we picked it up, he would yell obscenities at us. (Cell phones hadn't been invented yet.) It was quite an adrenaline rush. After a while, we finally were able to call the police and they came and surrounded the area (in unmarked cars) and we were told (by the police) to put some toilet paper in a paper bag and leave it as instructed. We left the building and drove away. The police watched for quite a while, but no one came to pick up the bag. To top it off, I had to come in the next morning and open the store (alone) at 6 am to make the Big George's for the day.

5. Caroler at ZCMI. After quitting George's Market (because it was purchased by some Iranians who didn't like me very much) I had hard time finding a job because it was just a month or two before leaving on my mission in January. My cousin signed up to sing Christmas Carols at ZCMI, so I joined her. We had a double-quartet and we set up at the top of the escalators on the 2nd floor and sing to people as the awkwardly disembarked the escalators. The only people that seemed to really enjoy us were blue-haired old ladies. This job was ALMOST as bad as selling balloons.

6. Alphagraphics. After my mission, I was hired at AlphaGraphics Printshops of the Future. I was the "LaserGraphic" specialist. Macintosh computers and laser printers were brand new, and I was assigned to help people use the machines. The absolute BEST part of this job was the time that Gayle came in to prepare their family Christmas letter prior to leaving for Peru the next day. She had pictures of each of the kids and a short description of what they were doing. I read with interest that her oldest daughter, Becky, was returning home from her mission to Peru the next week. Then, about 2 months later, Becky came in to have a resume prepared so she could apply for teaching jobs. I worked with her for a while, teaching her how to use the software and type the resume (this was brand new at the time). When she finished it and picked out a nice linen paper, I copied it for her. Unknown to her, I kept a copy and called her a few days later. She only knew me as "Troy, from Alphagraphics". I knew just about everything about her; she knew nothing about me. The rest is history.

Here's hoping Daniel can find a good summer job.