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>>>Baby sat in early teens.>>>

Yeah, Baby sitter is right up there with Newspaper delivery boy on his bike I guess. I did both of those too. In fact, I liked to babysit next door because it was usually on Friday nights and we are Seventh day Adventists and couldn’t watch TV on Friday Night (Sabbath) so it was the only time I got to watch Love American Style and the Brady Bunch since my parents couldn’t see that far.........

Another bad one was throwing the L.A. Times in the middle of the night (after I learned to throw, that is) to a total of 464 customers. I took that stint because it allowed me to combine it with child care so I could stay home for a few years with my own three kids. I'd get up at 1:45 a.m., seven days a week - rain or shine, go to a distribution center, plastic-wrap the newspapers, toss them into my car, and throw the papers to the customers. Got back home around 5:30 a.m. just in time for the kidlets I watched to arrive for the day.

Even though my ears rang for 9 months after I quit the job (developed equilibrium problems due to the work and sleep deprivation), I was blessed to have that gig as it allowed me to be home 100% with my youngest babies and raise them myself. I wouldn't trade that for any amount of money.

Plus I developed a GREAT right arm. :-)

Paper boy was a great job. Except for stuffing the Sunday paper at 4 am in Minnesota in the winter. My fingers get pretty cold and numb at the slightest anymore. Agree with the other posters on hating the sales thing though. I kept getting yelled at every meeting by the drop manager for not “selling”. After about the third time I told the guy above him to tell him to knock it off or I would quit. For some reason my route was a bad route and they had a hard time filling it. So I never got bothered about it again.

Hmmm - I got laid off from my last job for not “selling enough” - I was more concerned with the technical aspects of the work. (Funny - “not selling” enough - so I became an independent consultant!! That was 16 years ago, and I still don’t do any “selling”.)

I had the paper route from 10 years old to 17 years old! Well, 16 & 17 I subbed out most of it to a younger kid on the block as I was busy with sports, etc. Most of the houses I still had to go around and get my collections. It would take me three evenings usually. Mainly because of the older folks inviting me in for drinks and cookies and chatting!

I didn’t realize it at the time, but that was probably the best learning part of it - learning how to talk and act like an adult. That and performing a job on time and with care.

Can’t say it was too bad, but it sounds bad - “work staff” at the summer camp where one of the jobs was cleaning the out-houses every morning. Except me and the other guy would have a race to see who could get done with theirs the fasest - and make it to the ball field first to play softball. We probably each had about 10 or so scattered around the camp. Winner bought the other a soda at the canteen behind the ball field after the game.

Sorry for the long post, but thanks for letting me indulge in some memories!