BlogBreak

By French Fry

May 23, 2007 9:04 AM | Link to this

I spent my first year out of college working very hard as a sales assistant by day and burger flipper by night just to be able to pay the rent. I won’t name the fast food chain but never again. It was such a dirty restaurant and my coworkers would spit in the food!

By Edward

May 23, 2007 10:55 AM | Link to this

When I was in high school, albeit centuries ago, low income students were offered summer jobs through a government funded program for poor families. I was able to work for three summers between school years in the program. I grew up in an area that always had a very high rate of kids dropping out of high school. Almost all, if not all of the kids who worked the summer jobs went on to at least complete high school and many went on to college. The jobs instilled in us a sense of responsibility as well as the first taste of having some money in our pockets, a prelude of things to come for those who are willing to work for a better life. With the money I earned I was able to dress better for school and not feel like an outsider. I was also able to go to the Dentist for the first time in my life, something most of the kids in my neighborhood never experienced. The jobs kept me from falling in the same trap that many kids stopped going to school because of, mainly feeling that we looked and felt inferior to the kids that had money and parents that had higher incomes.

By sharon

May 23, 2007 10:56 AM | Link to this

If you witnessed your co-workers spitting in the food and you said nothing then you are just as low as they are, or maybe you did it too. You had a moral obligation to report them.

By mw

May 23, 2007 12:00 PM | Link to this

Not sure how a summer job could be a disaster especially for a young kid. My jobs weren’t the best either but least kept me out of trouble.

By Maria

May 23, 2007 12:08 PM | Link to this

I held a series of reception / office assistant jobs during the summers in high school and college. It wasn’t thrilling work, but those jobs were invaluable toward helping me get a better job after graduation. I was surprised how far I got with a nice phone voice, solid Excel / Powerpoint experience, and general business etiquette and writing skills (including the ever-unpopular habit of having proper spelling and grammar).

At one point, I quit my office job to work retail for the rest of a summer. What can I say, I was curious to know what working at the mall was really like. After an exhausting and poorly-paid summer plus two holiday seasons, I was ready to go back to answering phones and writing e-mails.

By Homeschool Mom

May 23, 2007 12:17 PM | Link to this

I worked at Six Flags during High School and my first year of college(best job I’ve ever had!) then stayed at college the next 2 summers to get in state residency and get ahead in classes and worked as an athletic trainer in the various summer sports camps (my major) My 16 year old son will be working with a family friend this summer doing construction/renovation work which will be good for him since he thinks that he’d like to be an architect/builder.

By Sixchuter

May 23, 2007 12:18 PM | Link to this

Summer jobs can be a rude awakening for a lot of high school kids. The first summer job I had was in a small town Mom & Pop hardware store, even today eons later ( I’m retired now) I remember it as being the best work experience of my life. My next summer job was in college at a Steak House across from the Fox it had a cow out front, my experience there was much like French Fries I can tell Sharon that theres no upside to reporting things that management already knows about, all that will get you is out the door,I worked there 2 years mostly in the summer, I worked the weekends during school. I had friends who were employed in other restaurants with very similar experiences, needless to say I’m very careful about where I eat …. NEVER SEND FOOD BACK TO BE CORRECTED!!! I can tell you now there was nothing in the restaurant business that I enjoyed, I needed the $ for school .

By Jaybird

May 23, 2007 12:50 PM | Link to this

On the subject of restaurants, I remember way back in the late Jurassic reading an interview with the Beatles in which they spoke of working in an airport sandwich shop where they used to spit in the sandwiches and wipe them in the dirt, so this is nothing new. I’ve since met several chefs and the best I can offer after talking to them is, if you cannot at all times clearly see the area where your food is prepared, leave immediately and go somewhere safer to eat. You never know what diseases and/or filth the staff amuses themselves with by putting it in your food.

By sg

May 23, 2007 1:39 PM | Link to this

lifeguarded on Hilton Head Island every summer all through college. Never has life been so good. Closest thing to a rock star. didn’t do much for my career but who cares. Carpe Diem.

By French Fry

May 23, 2007 1:42 PM | Link to this

@ sharon: I did report this immediately but my supervisor threatened to fire me for being a troublemaker. What else was I supposed to do 20 years ago when I was 21 and really needed the money? I actually got promoted after 9 months to sales associate and never looked back!

By donna

May 23, 2007 1:56 PM | Link to this

I have a 17 year old daughter, who next year will be a senior her father and I have always giving her and her younger siblings what they want. They are very responsible, well manner, respectful and highly smart children, but I watch other children with the same characteristic who have to work to get the things we give to our children. This summer my daughter has the opportunity to work at a friends company making $14.00 and hour (she speaks spanish). She want to do it but her father feels it will interfere with her education. He feels that once she start working that she will like that taste and will focus more on that. Any suggestion?

By Donna

May 23, 2007 2:22 PM | Link to this

Donna…my daughter did the same darn thang..she really liked the monies and started strippen for cash…she now lives in out in LA doing dirty movies..tell her to stay in school!

By Becky

May 23, 2007 3:05 PM | Link to this

I had plenty of summer jobs during school. Lots in the food industry. Never once thought of spiting in someones food though.. The best one that I had was working at a Blimpies. I was paid cash & it was right next to a bar & a gym. So I got to see all the cute guys, then go drinking…It taught me that I wanted to stay in one job & I have been with my company now for 20 years..Donna, I think that your husband should let her. Is she going to summer school? It will be great for her.

By Sara

May 23, 2007 3:26 PM | Link to this

Donna, it sounds to me you husband possibly has a control issue? What types of strings and/or conditions do you two attach with all the money you give your daughter? Could it possibly be daddy doesn’t want daughter to have any independence and a say so on how she spends the money she earnes as opposed to the money he gives her. Also, if your kids are as bright as you claim, surely they have enough gray matter to do a summer job and still excel in high school. I worked in the summers, graduated from Emory and am grateful for the summer job experiences I was afforded by having the responsibility. Your kids sound spoiled and mom sounds a bit too self-impressed. Let me guess, Alpharetta?

By sunshine608

May 23, 2007 4:08 PM | Link to this

Donna,

She needs a job. It’s time to cut the strings and let her grow up.

By Dianne

May 23, 2007 4:59 PM | Link to this

Kids need a job during the summer, etc. It teaches them responsibility, gives them the freedom they may crave to be away from mom & dad…if only for a few hours. I worked part time in a 5 & 10 while in high school. Love it! My best memories are from that experience. I had my own spending money, could buy what I wanted, but learned when I spent it all….I had to wait until the next payday!

Being a professional now, I know that even these small, part-time jobs are beneficial to a resume for future careers!

By sprawl

May 24, 2007 8:15 AM | Link to this

My summer job was working waaaay out in the suburbs on Johnson Ferry Road, renting out rafts for people to go down the Chattahoochee! Imagine people doing that now, being stared at by hundreds of people in bumper-to-bumper traffic! I bet it would cause some car wrecks!

By DYJ

May 24, 2007 9:12 AM | Link to this

When I got my DL, my parents bought me a used car. Part of the deal was getting a summer job to pay for gas, insurance and have my own spending money. I had great summer jobs - tennis teacher for kids, lifeguard at a waterpark, mall retail, law firm runner. None turned into a career but I became more responsible with my money, learned office etiquette and had a good time (as much fun as work can be). When my daughter gets to driving age, I plan on making the same deal with her.

By bonzo

May 24, 2007 9:23 AM | Link to this

spent college summers as paid usher at Wolf Trap near DC, watching scores of concerts, jazz, ballet, opera, folk for free. Part of National Park Service then. During day, worked in department store shirt department. Now my friends’ kids all do more substantive stuff…volunteer work, internships, summer programs..I think you need to have that time off at that pt in your life

By donna

May 24, 2007 9:48 AM | Link to this

Sara…it’s sounds to me you have some personal issue going on yourself. Yes, my kids are spoiled, I’ll admit and as I stated very well educated. I will also admit to some level my husband has a control issue when it comes to the kids but his issuw qith her working this summer I feel is more out of scared. He’s always reading the paper of different things happening to child and this in his mind is his little girl still. She has always been a daddy little girl. As of now we don’t put any stipulations on her besides the normal house rules. She really don’t ask for much. She knows what her monthly limit is and she abide by it. She is very responsible. Alot of her classmates work during the summer and some even after school. She wants to get a summer job, too. She wants to find her own and not work for our friend. I only got her that one hoping it would make my husband feel better about her working, but I agree with her finding her own. I don’t need you (Sara) passing judgement because we have done a hell of a job raising a wonderful productive daughter. Can you say the same? Once again, to the ones who can help me in this situation, with some productive advice to how do I get my husband to understand, this is good for her, things happen and even if we leave her at home things can still happen. He can’t hinder her from working this summer because of his own fears? NO we don’t live in Alpharetta. We live in the city of ATLANTA.

By mom of teen boys

May 24, 2007 10:56 AM | Link to this

donna - if your daughter is working for a family friend in a safe environment, then i’d say let her try it part-time. she’s not going to school full-time in the summer. i understand about teenage girls working around a mall or anywhere in “public - late hours, too many creepy people “checking her out” - that might scare her dad. Show him that this would look great on her college application. It is better than staying at home alone. And, since she is a great kid, she may be shy or bored with trying to always behave and this will give her a beneficial reason to experience working with others and proving herself in another area to her dad! Make sure she also uses her income to tithe, donate or heavily save and then she won’t feel like she’s made “so much” money that she’ll want to work instead of go to school. It won’t! She’ll appreciate it in the future.

By Sixchuter

May 24, 2007 1:00 PM | Link to this

Don’t allow your children sell drugs or work in stripclubs, I was just reading the article about the Barby twins robbing the bank, how stupid. But my question is who would allow their 18 and 19 year old daughters to work in a stripclub in the first place? I have a friend whose exwife allowed their daughter to work one summer in a strip club to get college money, that was about ten years ago she still hasn’t saved enough yet for school but she’s still stripping or worse.

By Reese

May 24, 2007 1:03 PM | Link to this

Yes, How are you I was just wondering about a summer job. Anything that’s available I will Love to take.

Thanks truly

By Bill T

May 24, 2007 1:47 PM | Link to this

I look fondly on my college career was known for a plethora of jobs -Montgomery Ward camera sales -window/floors washer -bank teller -Law firm runner -construction laborer -banquest food service lackey -bus boy -bar bouncer -phone sales (one day, didn’t even pick up my check) -house painter -sod layer. I think everyone should work during the summers. It builds characters and gives them opportunities to meet all sorts of nutty characters they’ll long remember

By Bill T

May 24, 2007 1:48 PM | Link to this

I look fondly on my college career was known for a plethora of jobs -Montgomery Ward camera sales -window/floors washer -bank teller -Law firm runner -construction laborer -banquest food service lackey -bus boy -bar bouncer -phone sales (one day, didn’t even pick up my check) -house painter -sod layer. I think everyone should work during the summers. It builds characters and gives them opportunities to meet all sorts of nutty characters they’ll long remember

By Charles in charge

May 24, 2007 1:59 PM | Link to this

My first summer job (outside of taking care of our landscaping and pool) over two decades ago was at age 16 working for my uncle as a plumber’s assistant. His plumbing company was just starting up and we were doing all the plumbing work for a condominium in Myrtle Beach.

That job only lasted 8 weeks during the summer because OSHA gave him flack for me being 16. Anyway, that instilled very early the discipline to get out of bed at 4am and work in 95 degree heat and sweat. I missed a lot of beach and play time with my friends to learn the plumbing trade and later the business behind it. Of course, that was the sacrifice then.

Today I am a very successful plumbing company owner and will look forward to selling it within five years and retiring in my mid-40s very well off. I can’t say the same for the friends who played hard and partied hard even after college.

Contrary to what Democrats like Dick Gephardt say, this was not about being “lucky” or “winning life’s lottery.” This was about hard work, dedication, and devotion to doing what I enjoyed. Everyone has opportunities to be successful in this nation. Many choose to just sit on the sidelines and complain.

By JJ

May 24, 2007 3:06 PM | Link to this

My daughter and I both want her to get a job. she had a taste of making money, and saving it. Plus, I’m no longer an ATM machine, and she is learning to save and budget. I think EVERY kid should get some sort of job by the time they are 16, and start earning their own money.

Donna in my opinion, your daughter should get out and get a job. She will never learn to be financially independent if you continue to give her everything she WANTS. I believe I have had this conversation with you before several months ago in one of these blogs. Granted your kids are wonderful and get good grades, but that alone will not prepare them for independence. Getting out and making their own money and spending their own money will make them appreciate what they have. However, you may not want them to be independent, and would prefer they depend on you the rest of their lives???? I for one do not want my daughter to depend on my for the rest of her life. I want her to HAVE her own life, and her own money.!!!

By donna

May 24, 2007 4:22 PM | Link to this

JJ… you must have had this conversation with some one else because the question of my daughter getting a job has never come up before now. We ourselves has just begin discussing it. You are missing the point. She is independent and deserve everything we give her. She work hard both in and out of school. She don’t rely on us for everything. I guess it will help you out to know she babysit at her own choice and she makes money doing that, but she and I feel that it will be a good experience for her to a least get a part time summer job. Read carefully before you speak. She wants to do it. It’s her father that we are having the problem with and my daughter don’t like to go against her father. I’m sorry I’m not the Donna you thought to before, but just to set the record straight, I worked through school and my sister did not. I assisted my parents in getting her whatever and she is very independent. She went to college, worked part time, graduated and went straight to the top. So spare me the independent speech. She want the experience before college and so do I.

By Yada Yada

May 24, 2007 4:49 PM | Link to this

I delivered, put up scaffolding, and then tore it down and stacked it on a truck and returned it to the company work yard when the construction crews were finished with it, all in the heat of Summer. It was around buildings up to 4 stories high. I would go to bed at 7:00 I was so tired.

It was the reason I was determined to get by college BA, so I would never have to work under those conditions again.

By kristin

May 25, 2007 10:01 AM | Link to this

Donna,

I think that it is okay for your daughter to work part-time in the summer. It shouldn’t interfere with school and it is an opportunity to get some “real world” exposure.

I happen to disagree with those who feel that their children need to work while in school to gain a strong work ethic. I have been working since I was 14, paying for school clothes, shampoo, etc. This left me with little time for extra-curriculum actives. I graduated high school had no money for college, so I worked as a waitress for years until I was able to save enough to go back to school. Now at 34 I will be receiving my BS in Business and I realize now that my parents should helped me financially, after all I did grow up in a middle class family.

Let them be kids and explore life by volunteering or participating in various hobbies. Crappy jobs will come before they know it.

By Workie

May 25, 2007 1:22 PM | Link to this

Part time jobs for extra spending money (NOT the essentials) are fantastic. My first summer job was at 14. I was a dishwasher/busboy at our local IHOP. Minimum wage was $3.15/hr (I’m really dating myself) and I had no idea how I could possibly spend all that money!

By Grew Up too Fast

May 25, 2007 2:47 PM | Link to this

Amen Kristin!!! Let kids be kids not mini adults before they are ready. I worked from 14 on to pay for my expenses during high school. I graduated high school early , was working for an attorney , going to college and was kicked out (scapegoat) at 18. Still going to college at age 40 to get a degree.. My daughter is 16,AP/Honors student, and wants ANY job for the summer as I will not let her work during school year. She is encouraged to act her age, have hobbies, voice her opinions and build her confidence. She will have choices about her future that I did not, and financial security when I send her off into the world.

By Noelle

May 25, 2007 4:42 PM | Link to this

Donna if your daughter is going to be working with a friend I say allow her to work 4 hours per day. I have a 15 year old who desperately wants a job but so far no one has called her back. Honestly, I am happy because I am not ready for her to start working - she has her entire life ahead of her. For now her job is to maintain her GPA which is a 3.2 right now. She cheers for her school’s varsity squad and is all honors classes - that in itself is a job for her. Our rule is if she could find a job for the Summer we would allow her to work but never during the school year.

Like you - we pretty much give our daughter the things that she wants and needs and she is not a spoiled selfish brat. We give her an allowance weekly and if she asks for extras 95% of the time she gets it( within reason). I wouldn’t bother justifying my position to anyone. That;s what’s wrong today - kids don’t spend enough time being kids. When I was growing up I worked a Summer job to buy my school clothes - guess what my mom didn’t work so I had to pretty much help raise my siblings - that wasn’t a good learning experience in my eyes.