You SHOULD Have A Job Before 18

[XDdreams]

Did odd jobs like mowing, leaf removal, gutter cleaning for cash in my neighborhood around age 12. Also helped with the cleaning of a nightclub, and stocking of a fireworks store both owned by my friends family. My first "real" job was at the Walgreens photo counter at 16. Have to instill that work ethic young.

 

[Ziggidy]

I have not been without a job since I was 8 years old (real job); I am now over 70.

Delivered Chicago Daily News, on my route was Butch’s Beefstand (best itialian beef around). I’d stop by every other day and took out the garbage and he’d give me a buck and a free beef!

Next was a stock boy at age 11. Made 1.00 an hour cash and worked about 10-15 hours per week, I was rich. Moved on from there when I was 15 to A very high end men’s clothing store and worked there til after I graduated high school.

Went to work for the park district full time while trying to go to college. That worked for a while but working days was hard on school. I dropped out of school and got a job in a steel drop forging plant. Made tons of money but I was too stupid to save. Got tired of that and decided to go back to school. Got a job at a large shoe store (back then selling shoes was allot different than today). I also worked for Andy Frain in Chicago during that time.

While I was in school I decided to get a job in my career so started working in the hospital while going to school full time. Graduated in 1976 and spent 44 years in my career. Retired and still work at a local store chain.

I cannot understand how people do not find value in work. I see young people doing nothing and expecting everything. How did this happen? Even when I did not have a plan, I have been a roofer, home decorating (paint / wall paper), mortgage broker and more. Work is in my blood.

 

[Leadeye]

Before I could even walk, my daddy had me huntin' buffalo on the lone prairie !

(that really is me !)

I did do the hunting when I was young, nobody else in the family could shoot worth a hoot.

 

[Leadeye]

Point of order! You CAN'T spend too many hours on a John Deere 4020.

A good tractor.

 

[Leo]

Work was important. There was no money for anything if I did not earn it. I remember beating up a boy who mowed widow Jenson's lawn. That was MY territory, MY job! (my $2)

I was 6'1" and 170 lbs when I was 13. I got hired that summer and worked since then. I let the boss think I was 16, I was 6 inches taller than he was, so he didn't doubt it. Further employers knew that I had already worked for a year at the past employer, so they never questioned my age.

Things were more simple then. Most restaurant employment for teenagers then was paid cash and no paperwork was required to get hired or for taxes. I am sure uncle Sam did not miss the tax on my $30 or $40 a week.

 

[Mark-DuCo]

I started out as a stock boy/carry out at the local grocery store at 14, then at 16 I worked for a railroad bridge company as a shop boy.

At 17 I thought I was going to be a mechanic, so I started in a transmission shop removing, tearing down, and cleaning transmissions.

My senior year I started working for a construction company. Did that for until my sophomore year in college when I started working for the factory I am at now, which turned into the Production Manager job at the end of my senior year of college.

I personally think everyone needs to work in the service industry at least once to learn how to be a decent human being in public. I also think at least all boys should work a bit of construction and in the automotive field so they can learn at least the basics. The knowledge I gained has saved me thousands of dollars by doing my own automotive work and doing most of the construction on my house.

 

[Ark]

That kid is better at his job and has a better attitude than any of the surly, incompetent 20 and 30-somethings I usually have to deal with.

 

[ZurokSlayer7X9]

My work experience started with helping my dad at the construction site when I didn't have school. Been swinging a hammer as long as I can remember. There were days during my summer break when I went out with him instead of playing video games. Wasn't always paid, and I didn't ask to be most of the time.

Was an electrician's helper at one point. Eventually taught myself 3D modeling on the computer, which combined with my experience in the field allowed me to be hired by an architecture firm. The head architect there kind of became my mentor and taught me how to draw blueprints while I had to teach myself Revit. He left and I went with him when he formed his own company. All my jobs have been in the construction industry, both in the field and in the office. My favorite was remodeling a nursing home and having to chip VCT tile with a pneumatic tile scraper one square inch at a time for 10 hours straight.

I have a friend who's never worked a full day in his life, let alone a full 40 hour week, and he's 25 years old. He has a part time job of like 20 hours a week at most, and then he complains his dad is being too forceful when he pushes for him to get a another job. I tried explaining that his dad is not being forceful enough and even tried opening a door in the construction world, but it goes in one ear and out the other. I tune him out now when he complains as I tried helping, but you can't help those who don't want to be helped.

 

[stocknup]

I am thankful for having a good work ethic instilled in me when I was young . My parents were born at the beginning of the depression and working for what you wanted was just a way of life . I remember my Dad talking about a job he had when in grade school as a "Pin Setter" in a bowling alley for 10cents an hour.........
I did small jobs when young ( mowing grass , helping a man insulate houses and I bagged ice in a grocery store at 14 yrs old , for 5 cents a bag ) I bought a used 10 speed bicycle with that money ( $45 ) and I still have it to this day and is in great condition . That was in 1974 .

 

[Hkindiana]

My first job was hauling bricks for my father in my wagon when I was about six years old. I got $1 per day, AND I got to drink the foam off of every beer I brought him. My first w2 job was corn detassling at age 13 - I got $1.80 per hour for ten hours a day, and seven days per week. My Mother’s side of the family owns 1000’s of acres of apple and peach orchards, and tomato and pepper fields in illinois. In the summer, and even during the school year, virtually ALL of the kids in town worked in the packing sheds, or in the fields. Now when I go to visit, the towns kids spend the summer playing softball, or sitting around getting fat and playing video games - heaven forbid the snowflakes actually work and get their hands dirty. Now the packing sheds and field work are all done by non English speaking illegals,

 

[J Galt]

I think it's important to have crappy jobs. My oldest son worked at Pizza Hut, was a pool monitor, and was an overnight stocker at Walmart. My youngest son was a dish washer for a food service contractor... and an overnight stocker at Walmart.

Is there any job except a crappy job when you're in your teens? It preps you for crappy jobs as an adult.

It's very important to have a $hitty job for a year. Then it is critical to read Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki and learn that being an employee isn't the only option to make a living. Then start learning about aspects of money you never are taught in school.

Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the

April 2022 marks 25 years since Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad first made waves in the Personal Finance arena. It has since become the #1 Personal Finance book of all time... translated into dozens of languages and sold around the world. Rich Dad Poor Dad is Robert's story of growing up...

store.richdad.com

 

[Tombs]

I cannot understand how people do not find value in work. I see young people doing nothing and expecting everything. How did this happen? Even when I did not have a plan, I have been a roofer, home decorating (paint / wall paper), mortgage broker and more. Work is in my blood.

It's because most of you folks are old enough that you grew up and lived in a time of abundant jobs with next to no requirements, and no where near the regulatory ********. There wasn't an open border and H1B programs eating up all the low hanging fruit that would be enough to get your life started.

You could find a job you could retire at without even needing a highschool diploma.

Young people today go through the revolving door employers that actually call you back when you hand in an application, and jump from job to job as they're brushed aside for the next employee before benefits kick in. They see all the things their parents had and listen to how they got jobs and how much money they made and are in complete and total disbelief because it's an entirely different universe.

And then when you end up in any technology sector job, half of the time they're demanding proof of experience with software that hasn't even existed as long as the experience they're requesting.

Like I said earlier, people need to work on what they're expecting out of employees if they want to see this.

 

[Lmo1131]

You're right Tombs, it was a different universe. At 18 I was pouring iron and setting blast furnace bottoms for Golden Foundry down in Columbus; $1.77 an hour, and happy to get it it.

 

[WebSnyper]

I think it's important to have crappy jobs. My oldest son worked at Pizza Hut, was a pool monitor, and was an overnight stocker at Walmart. My youngest son was a dish washer for a food service contractor... and an overnight stocker at Walmart.

It definitely motivates. I had my share of them and made sure both my kids did as well. They stayed out of the big chain fast food side of things, as did I but plenty of other manual labor jobs to convince them to have a plan for what they wanted to do.

 

[Twangbanger]

Got my first above-the-table "W-2" job at 16, working weeknights after school (and some time on weekends), wearing a snowmobile suit in a 9-degree packing freezer 4 hours at a time. Got home about 9pm and started homework.

The job was largely a waste of time. I didn't need work ethic; I already had it. I didn't need a "plan" in life; I already had one. I just did it because the other rural youth in my small town seemed to be doing it, because they were encouraged by the tutelage of their blue collar dads who had worked since they were 12, and therefore thought their kids had to do it, too, because most of them weren't capable of teaching their kids much beyond what they themselves knew. I missed out on school activities to put gas in a car and take my girlfriend out. I eventually learned that was a stupid use of time and resources. But then I would have learned the same thing without the job .

Some kids might learn something useful by having a job younger than 18. But it's far from a certainty. For every kid I saw who "worked young" and grew up to make something of themselves, I could name another who didn't amount to a tinker's damn. If they lack impulse-control and are slated to be a ditch-digger for life, then I suppose they had best get on with it, the sooner the better. But if the kid is level-headed and on a good path to begin with, I see no particular overwhelming benefit to it, this day in age. They have got the rest of their lives to work. Keeping the local Sunoco station flush with gas-revenue can wait.

 

[Ziggidy]

It's because most of you folks are old enough that you grew up and lived in a time of abundant jobs with next to no requirements, and no where near the regulatory ********. There wasn't an open border and H1B programs eating up all the low hanging fruit that would be enough to get your life started.

You could find a job you could retire at without even needing a highschool diploma.

Young people today go through the revolving door employers that actually call you back when you hand in an application, and jump from job to job as they're brushed aside for the next employee before benefits kick in. They see all the things their parents had and listen to how they got jobs and how much money they made and are in complete and total disbelief because it's an entirely different universe.

And then when you end up in any technology sector job, half of the time they're demanding proof of experience with software that hasn't even existed as long as the experience they're requesting.

Like I said earlier, people need to work on what they're expecting out of employees if they want to see this.

I agree with a little of what you say, things were different. Today’s kids ”expect”, back then we didn’t. Back then we respected, today’s kids lack respect. Back then we had rules that were followed, today rules are just to be broken.

If one wants to succeed, one must stop the excuses and go 150% for it. If one truly wants it, it can be found.

 

[SnoopLoggyDog]

Started helping my Dad and uncle as a 10 year old "helper" on weekend plumbing jobs. Moved up to mowing lawns, digging ditches, helping clean sewer lines and doing paper routes. By the time I was 17, I was working after school and weekends as a carpenter, plumber, and general apartment maintenance guy for a local realtor. I was glad to have the experience later in life.

 

[Tombs]

You're right Tombs, it was a different universe. At 18 I was pouring iron and setting blast furnace bottoms for Golden Foundry down in Columbus; $1.77 an hour, and happy to get it it.

And do they still exist, or did that move to china?

 

[natdscott]

Growing up ag you pretty much worked as soon as you could walk.

Yup. Got the scars and experience and good memories to support that statement.

 

[bwframe]

I passed papers for four years, my family (parents and younger siblings,) continued on for a couple more after I went into the restaurant business.

Kinda sad that this business is going the way of the dodo bird...

Indianapolis Star printing plant to close; operations shifting to Illinois - Indianapolis Business Journal

A 120-year run of local printing of The Indianapolis Star will end with the closure of the Pulliam Production Center.

www.ibj.com

Go Woke, Go Broke???

I’ll guarantee you, though, their tv commercials will still be ridiculously woke and “diverse”. Put a chick in it and make her gay and lame.

www.indianagunowners.com