I was 14, with no Hilton family fortune to ensure my future, let alone the next tank of gas for my moped (25 cents a fill-up in those days). My dad had an O.K. job, my mom spent money like he was C.E.O. of Tiffany's. And a new chain hamburger joint, Jack's, had opened in town, a major happening in this sleepy burg of 5,000 in the middle of Mississippi No-Where-Land. Way before there was a Wal-Mart, Walgreens, or Starbucks on every corner. Not even a McDonald's for 60 miles. Imagine!
Back then, the law said you could work at 14 in Mississippi. No rules about limited hours or how late you could work. Managers had free reign about how they could schedule the school-help. At first it started out part-time, maybe 3 shifts of 4-5 hours. Further on, with more experience and regular turn-over, it turned into more full-time and closing shifts. It soon became a 40+ hour a week job for a 15-year-old. I still don't know how I kept a B average through all of this.
I started dating my high school sweetheart during this time. (I was young, inexperienced, and did I say this was in Mississippi?) She was a cashier and I was a cook (mostly, but toward the end I did 50/50 FOH/BOH). This was, way before I knew I was gay, obviously. Anyway, we were a formidable team, and basically ran the place for a couple years. Our high school yearbook forecasted us getting married and starting our own restaurant in the future. Yeah, they were a little off.
It was way, way too many hours for a high-schooler to be working. That, and the long distance I lived from work, made it impossible to continue and I quit starting my senior year. I really didn't want to lose that paycheck, since my mom, who I lived with, wasn't a real big provider.
I really grew up and learned a lot in that first job. My first romance, my first taste of Independence, my initial contact with "customers", my first doobie in a car out back at the Christmas party.
I also learned the following:
Even back then, customers are NOT always right
Managers being friends with employees is not a good thing.
Politics at work means more than hard work. This lesson has followed me for almost 34 years now. Study it, learn from it. If I had, I may have taken a different route in life.
School kids should not work more than say, 20 hours a week. And maybe not at all during the week.
I was terribly addicted to the adrenaline rush of the Restaurant Biz, which would follow me on my move to South Carolina after graduation, and on to my second Restaurant Job, the mighty Burger King!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
My first restaurant job was at McDonald's at age 14. We weren't allowed to work past 8 o'clock on week nights. We weren't allowed to work more than 25 hrs per week either. Until I turned 16 of course. Then I got fired because they wanted to work me more shifts than I wase willing to show up for.
My first paying job--age 14, coffee shop on the eastern shore of Maryland. When I had to babysit my 4-year-old sister, I brought her in with me to wipe down the tables so I could still get paid while I had to watch her. Those were the days!
UW-Your state was way ahead of Mississippi back then. That, and I think I've got a few years on ya. We're talking mid-70's here, in the middle of the DEEP, DEEP, South.
RG-Those were the days, indeed!
The pendulum has swung to far the other way. I interview about 1000 recent College Grads per year. They'd be a LOT readier for reality if they'd had their first jobs at 12-16. Many have their first "job" in the Hospitality Industry via a bullshit mandatory "externship" their Senior Year.
I've got you all beat, btw. I was hired, FIRED and shanghai'd back to work by a Crazy Chinese dude when I was 12. Life lessons.
If Florida had strict Child-Worker rules back then, I can promise you Mr. Hung was unaware or defiant.
40+ hours a week in high school? Holy mac and cheese, I have no idea how you managed. At 16, I worked 40+ a week during the summer with no classes, and was exhausted.
My first job at 15-Pizza Hut...that was 22 years ago...now I have left the industry, and have made a promise to never, ever return. 40hrs a week...thats easy when your 17, you've got more energy!! Try working 60 hrs a week at 37 with a herniated disc. All I can say is...if I could do it over...I should have gotten out of this business about 18 years ago
haha - I just turned 15 and I'm busing tables at a local restaurant. It's New York and we have all kinds of strict labor laws, but they aren't really followed. I've worked 12 hour days, way past midnight. Only to be back at 10 the next day. I probably average 25-30 hours a week. I have a 98 average, so my parents couldn't care less. And I love my job.
Post a Comment