By Gail Marsh
I’ll admit it. I felt very jealous of my childhood friends who received a weekly allowance. When I worked up the courage to broach the topic with my dad, he rolled his eyes and turned back to the job at hand—milking cows. I interpreted his silent (yet painfully loud) response to mean: It’s ridiculous that someone would be paid simply for living. Family life means everyone has responsibility—to the family. Payment for being part of a family? Ridiculous.
Chores, not jobs
My sisters and I never received an allowance. Every day, rain or shine, we brought the cows in from the pasture to be milked, fed and watered the sheep and hogs, and gathered eggs and scattered feed for the chickens. It was fun, for the most part. (I have never forgiven our mean, old rooster for chasing me and pecking my ankles, however.)
First paying job
Friends who gathered around the cooler (too hot for a campfire) a few nights ago seemed skeptical when I said that I landed my first paying job when I was 8 years old. My sister (age 10) and I worked together as a team, and Mom was our employer.
Thistles?
Our job? Hoeing up thistles that had multiplied at an alarming rate within our “grove.” The “grove” is what we called the band of trees which formed a natural “snow fence” around two sides of our Iowa farmhouse, barn, and outbuildings. Mom promised each of us one cent for every thistle we removed.
Hard work
My sisters and I eagerly tackled this job with an intensity that makes me smile as I remember it now, so many years later. We took turns with the hoe (there was only the one) and kept meticulous account of our running total. It wasn’t long before we had a pile of the thorny weeds. We worked for hours. At least it seemed like it. Then, finally, we were done.
Inspection time
My sister and I tossed down the hoe and our gloves. We ran into the house and excitedly pulled Mom away from her ironing. She came out to inspect our results and I remember crossing my fingers, secretly hoping that we’d counted correctly. With one glance at the pile of thistles, Mom smiled and said, “Good job!” She refused to count them. “I trust you,” she said.
Payment
I don’t really remember how much each of us earned from our thistle removal operation. I’m sure it wasn’t much at a penny a pop. As I recall the incident now, I wonder if Mom really wanted the thistles hoed up or if, perhaps, she just craved some peace and quiet for a while.
How about you?
How old were you when you landed your first paying job? Register your vote and tell us about the job in the comments.
MORE POLLS YOU MIGHT LIKE:
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- Will your next RV likely have more or fewer slideouts than your present one?
I think I began babysitting when I was 12 or so, 50 cents an hour. My first non-babysitting job was summers during college, so at 18.
I rode my bike at 15 years old about 5 miles to the orchards and thinned apples in late spring and as the apples got larger in early summer, propped up the branches so they wouldn’t break.
My parents owned a Motel in Fla.and we live in an efficiency apartment on the premise. We each had jobs and were paid $1 an hr. I was 8 when we moved there and was required to work 20 hrs a week. My main job was pool,phone operator…had a switchboard…and doing errands for maids. My sister washed dishes in the coffee shop and also helped the maids
I don’t remember exactly how old I was when I was babysitting a neighbor’s kids in high school. But, I do remember in my senior year of high school when I painted Christmas designs in windows for 3 businesses. I was 17. I was able to make a significant contribution to the Christmas goodies for my siblings and get a good coat for myself, after paying back my mom for my supplies.
I was 17, just graduated from high school, worked as a teacher’s aide for 4 years while taking night and summer college classes, graduated on Saturday at age 21, started teaching high school English the following Monday, taught for 40 years at the same school before retiring. I’ve spent my whole life in school!
I was 14. My first job was working at a car dealerships used car lot cleaning and moving cars around and occasionally driving them to the dealership. Yep, 14 years old and driving on the local roads.
When I turned 16, I took my driver test the day after I got my permit.
The officer doing the test was amazed. Then I told him about my job.
BTW, my Dad just smiled at him.
I helped my father with his self employment job at about age 5. I earned my keep. But occasionally I was paid by the one who hired my father and was impressed with my work ethic. Sold the grit newspaper and mowed lawns first off as a paying job. Then went from there.
Thank you for tbe question, Gail! I was 15. It was the spring of my sophomore year of high school. My algebra teacher had built a house and planned to build a fence and run a few head of beef cows. He paid me 25 cents per hole and I used post hole diggers. I think they were to be 24 (18?) inches deep. The first day that I worked for him, I made about $1, $1.25 an hour, and almost $4 for the time I worked that day. Unfortunately for me, I failed to wear gloves and did not make nearly that much money on my second day. I think he only had 25 or 30 post holes to be dug. Have a great weekend and safe travels!
My parents were merchants in a small town when I was growing up. Since they could hardly keep me off the floor helping customers from a very young age, my dad agreed to start paying me instead of just giving me an allowance. I remember walking into a local bank when I was about 15 and opening my first checking account – no parental signature required. 😉
I was about 10 years old when I got my first job. We were living in the small town of Ephrata Washington. I stood on the street corner selling the local newspaper for 10 cents. I think I got 2 cents apiece. I’m 82 now.
I started delivering the morning newspaper when I was 13. A fall down some slippery stairs and a bike accident ended that venture. At 14 I was hired to teach skiing to a bunch of 5 & 6 year-olds. There was a lot of chaos for a couple of weeks then they finally got the hang of it!. Taught skiing all the way through high school!
I was a paper boy at age 14, 5 afternoons and EARLY Sunday mornings (4 to 5 am). Then at 16, I got a job at an ice cream shop, but we moved after 9 months of this job. Then had a summer job at a new subdivision building streets and utilities. Then a delivery boy for an auto parts store. Quite a variety of jobs over the years.
13, pushing an ice cream/popsicle cart. At 14 with a twice-a-week paper route. At 17 a summer thing at Burger King.
My first paying job was when I was 12 at my dad’s business. We did roof repair for a small company. In high school I got my first regular job at McDonald’s and within months got a second job at a gas station. Still worked at my dad’s company painting houses on weekends, and summers. At one point I had 3 jobs when I was 17.
My first job, at 14, was working as a banquet waitress. $1.75 per hr plus $3 tip for each event I worked. At 17, I worked at the front desk, as a switchboard operator, until I joined the Royal Canadian Air Force, 1 mth after my18th birthday.