Posted on 09/06/2015 6:35:43 PM PDT by blueunicorn6
In honor of Labor Day, tell us a little bit about your first job.
Hemmenway was. It was near the Concert Hall.
Symphony Hall and the Fens.
That was the first paid work I did, too. It was hard, dirty work. Carried a shotgun on the tractor to shoot copperheads and rattlesnakes, and it got used. Milk jugs filled with water and frozen sitting on the back of the tractor too, they’d melt over the course of the morning so we had ice water and it was much appreciated. Started before dawn to beat the heat but got soaked by the dew, wore long sleeve overshirts to keep the tobacco gum from getting stuck in the hair on our arms. Back to the house before noon to cool in the shade and lunch outside, then to the barns to string and put it up. Once I got a car at 16, I was able to get different summer jobs and did. Never worked in tobacco again. It was a hard way to earn a little spending money.
I remember that area well.
In 1976 I was one of Boston’s FIRST Bicycle Couriers.
Now THAT was a tough job!
The Archbishop of the Episcopal Diocese tried to get me fired because my shorts were too short! LOL!
Daylight Donuts.
100lb bags of powdered sugar. 80lb bags of cake and yeast flower. Paper cups, lids, straws, bug juice mix.....the works.
Good job after school until I got the refueling gig at the local airport. That was a great job!
Haven’t went a day unemployed since I was 15.
Being a musician, I used to hang out around there. And my hubby was going to Northeastern at the time as well.
I remember that area well.
In 1976 I was one of Boston’s FIRST Bicycle Couriers.
Now THAT was a tough job!
The Archbishop of the Episcopal Diocese tried to get me fired because my shorts were too short! LOL!
___________________
Love it! That would have been a rugged job since Massholes couldn’t drive decently if they tried.
My first real job was at age 17 selling jewelry in a store in East St. Louis, Illinois. I was on friendly terms with the Black Muslims who sold “Muhammed Speaks” and frozen fish from a truck once a week. I once met a man who looked like Jesus and claimed to be Jesus. He even had a couple of disciples. One of my regular customers, who worked at a local liquor store and always smelled of liquor, had to have been the inspiration for Richard Pryor’s character, “Mudbone.” He frequently needed a new leather watch strap because he would break them (he claimed) by reaching into where the wine was stored and turning bottles. I once saw a big black woman get decked right on the sidewalk by a tiny Korean shop owner. The black woman had stolen a wig from the Korean’s shop. The Korean pursued her. The black woman made the mistake of taking a swing at the Korean lady. And I had a boss — a rather vulgar, crude, porcine man — who had an ongoing affair with one of the other employees. They went “out to lunch” for a couple of hours at a time on a regular basis.
It was an educational experience. That was over 40 years ago, and I still occasionally have dreams about the place.
IIRC the most powerful thing in Boston traffic was a Right crumpled fender, for it meant you just didn’t give a dam**d.
Yes Indeed.
I was “Doored” more than once.
I knew all the connecting alleys and could cut through them to get across town faster.
There were all this strange “street art” in the alleys..life size white outlines of human shapes.
I finally figured out what those WERE. Eek.
Yes...I remember that! :-)
This 10 year old girl took grocery unloaded groceries and took baskets back from shoppers at the commissary on Hickam AFB, Hawaii for tips. Made good money, too!
Me too! It wasn’t my first job though.
That was coming on the heels of a couple of summers working seawall crew, running a 120 lb sheeting hammer, so I was in really good shape...
It was funny, the jocks in my dorm all thought I 'worked out' and were stunned when I didn't know one end of a weightlifting machine from the other.
I cut yards with a push mower until I got a job with a local Chinese grocer and learned what a work ethic really was. Clean up, stocking shelves and years later delivering groceries.
The men drove the old Oliver tractors while I drove the stake bed truck that pulled the hay wagon (when I could barely see over the dashboard). It was my job to follow the baler and load the truck and wagon. I didn't appreciate the hidden benefits at the time, but this made me very strong, and I can drive anything that moves and back a trailer any place you want it.
Washing a neighbor lady’s windows with vinegar, water and paper towels; breaking up a big boulder in another neighbors garden with a sledge hammer; mowing yet another neighbor’s lawn with dad’s reel-type Toro mower (which butchered his grass and he went absolutely apoplectic); and delivering the Fayetteville Eagle-Bulletin in the snow...all at age 14. It’s been work, work, work ever since.
This was brightleaf tobacco, individual leaves were “primed” or pulled off the plants from the bottom up. The barns were very hot and the tobacco that was already put up would sweat, which got into your eyes while you were climbing around in there and stung like heck. It was better to be on the ground feeding leaves to the women doing the stringing onto sticks, to be honest. At least there was a breeze and you could see a snake before getting too close for comfort.
Why does that not surprise me. Lol!
awesome thread!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.