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Yay for Adulting! Podcast - Episode 11, First & Summer Jobs, pt 1
6 Plays2 days ago
Part 1 of our Back in My Day: Summer And Part-Time Jobs episode. Four generations share how they made money as kids and teens, how they found work, how they built a reputation before social media, And what earning your own money actually felt like. Part 2 is coming next: what we spent it on, whether working was mandatory, And how kids make money now.
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Transcript
Early Work Experiences
00:00:04
Speaker
What was your go-to way of making money as a kid or teen, and how did you actually find the work? My go-to way of making money was through my father and his brothers.
00:00:19
Speaker
All of them were bricklayers, and I worked as a laborer, and that meant... that mixed mortar and made mortar mix so that it would be the mortar mix that they lay between the bricks and I had to supply them of bricks.
00:00:43
Speaker
So all they had to do was reach for the mortar and the bricks and I made one dollar per pound.
00:00:55
Speaker
Wow. A dollar an hour? Okay. yes Yes. How did I make money as a kid? Uh-huh. Well, I had an allowance.
00:01:08
Speaker
And I did things around the house because my mother was five feet tall. I had to help with laundry, especially hanging up things on the line, hanging curtains.
00:01:25
Speaker
Um, extra money was to scrub the wax off the floors when she wanted to re-wax them. wow. Dyeing the curtains in the tub when she wanted to change the color. But she taught home ec and so she was really into home decorating. So we changed colors of the curtains and the spreads every couple months.
00:01:52
Speaker
Oh, wow, every couple months. Wow. That was worth every 50 cents I got. Okay. 50 cents. We are raking in the money. All right.
Creative Techniques in First Jobs
00:02:04
Speaker
that's Well, I have a lot, lots of jobs, right? So in the wintertime, shovel snow during the summer, did the arts.
00:02:16
Speaker
My first official job, I would say, was having the paper route. where we deliver papers to all the people collect the money. We got a percentage of that. So that was my first official job.
00:02:30
Speaker
And I had that job for probably six or seven years. So I earned quite reasonably well because I was to buy three cars off of that paper route. Nice. First job was part of the paper route crew.
00:02:45
Speaker
My role in that squad was to help with the Sunday collection money. And I had my tactics of getting people to pay their money.
00:02:56
Speaker
One of those tactics was to flip open the mailbox on the door and yell, collect! They couldn't get mad at me because I was, you know, too young for them.
00:03:07
Speaker
Also little. Yes. But I think I made like $5 a week was my cut, but being so young, that was like bank. I was happy about that. But then my real, I guess more official job. The first one I got was when I was 14 at Baskin Robbins, making a whole $3.25 an hour.
Landing Jobs as Teens
00:03:35
Speaker
and that was an experience. Tell them how you got that job. You remember? We know. woman said she gave you some money and said it cost such and such count me back change and you did and she says you're hired was so impressed that's awesome i'm like it's bad but she wanted to make sure that you know how to come back change without relying on the cash register so that got me in and then yes so i did that for a summer
00:04:08
Speaker
I had evolutions. i don't know i leave. I had evolutions. So elementary school, I still had access to penny candy stores. oh I used to go get like chews and Tootsie Rolls for like a nickel and then sell them for a dime.
00:04:25
Speaker
And then we would make little baggies of like Kool-Aid with sugar in it and we would sell that. After that, my first job was a paper. i had a sales paper route where I used to bag up the sales paper and put them on people's doors.
00:04:37
Speaker
Then asked for a lawnmower for my birthday around 12 or 13. I went around cutting grass. And I got my first job as a golf caddy. So the golf caddy?
00:04:48
Speaker
I was a golf caddy. First job, 14.
00:04:53
Speaker
Uh, so I got my first, so I actually been working so since I was 14. I just wanted to make my own money as soon as possible. i As soon as I hit high school, that's when I started finding a job.
Podcast Introduction: Generational Work Experiences
00:05:03
Speaker
Jimmy John's, that was my first job. Jimmy John's, I worked there for a couple months and then when I turned 16, I got a job in Donald's. I worked there for about four years. All right, you got some hardworking folks today.
00:05:17
Speaker
Hey, and welcome back to the Yay for Adulting podcast. I'm your host, Lisa, and today we're discussing part one of our Back in Monday summer and part-time jobs episode.
00:05:30
Speaker
I'm joined by four different generations. Mom, and I'm Boomer. And my name is Albert, and I am a Boomer. John Gen X. I'm Shannon Gen X.
00:05:44
Speaker
Joe, the millennium. Justin, Gen Z. All right. Welcome, everybody. Now let's get into it.
The Role of Reputation and Community in Job Finding
00:05:52
Speaker
So getting the job was one thing. Keeping it or getting the next one required a completely different skill set.
00:05:58
Speaker
There weren't any reviews, no online presence. Thank goodness, for me anyway. um Your reputation was really just your neighborhood, maybe some teachers, maybe someone who babysat and knowing you were the reliable one and that people would call back.
00:06:15
Speaker
Today, a lot of that seems to just be likes and follow and relying on algorithm. So the question for the group, how did you build a reputation as someone that people wanted to hire or buy something from?
00:06:32
Speaker
And how is that different from how things work now? Well, I was a Girl Scout and I worked for Junior Achievement.
00:06:45
Speaker
So the people that I had to sell cookies to and to sell my broom and mop holders from that we made Junior Achievement, uh or get rid of kittens were people in my neighborhood i lived in a black neighborhood and everybody knew everybody so when i had something to sell they knew i was going to show up and pretty much bought it so we had a good network and we would buy from other kids that would be selling things too
00:07:20
Speaker
Well, I think back during my day, it was trust. There was trust in the environment. There was trust in the neighborhood.
00:07:32
Speaker
You know, if someone borrowed something from you, you trust that they would bring it back it wait the way they took it. And that was how I used that in customer had, such as cutting their watching their cars, mowing their lawn.
00:07:56
Speaker
They could depend on me. They could depend on their car. If I watched it, was going be Vickie's fan. People in my neighborhood brought their car shoes be shine to to my house.
00:08:11
Speaker
That's when I knew I had made a bed, working from home. right For me, it's just like doing the job right. Like he like he was stated, they built trust. You had to earn it.
00:08:25
Speaker
Nobody gave you anything. You had to earn the trust from the from your customers. I had several reputations in the neighborhood, right? One of them was I used to always help people with their homework because I was...
00:08:37
Speaker
the smart kid in the neighborhood. So I built trust that way, helping people with their homework. And then again, just always showing up when I said i was going to, you know, doing like doing a paper routes and stuff, always delivering on time, showing up every day.
00:08:54
Speaker
There was no sick days back then. So even if you really were sick, that the job was outside anyway. So you had to, go deliver your papers when nobody doing it for you. when Wasn't anybody going to do your route for you.
00:09:09
Speaker
So you had to, you had to show up and that's how you built your trust and your reputation, doing a showing up, doing a great job. And that's how you built your reputation. Yeah, and word of mouth was important too. example, with babysitting, if one family would hire you wild because they knew mom and dad or somebody, but they would pass that along if you did a good job, and then you would kind of build your babysitting network and get more clients that way if you did a good job. But another thing I remember...
00:09:41
Speaker
is getting letters of reference. And I remember building my high school portfolio and having people write actual letters that I would put in the folder. Basically vouching for, you know, the the good things that you've done and and blah, blah, blah. So that was one way. And then even with getting jobs, you had to have references. I think they might ask for them, but I remember back in the day, they used to really follow through. They would call. They would want to sit out reference letter. That was important. And so you had to, in order to get those good letters of reference, reference you would have to do, you know, already have a good, strong reputation.
00:10:19
Speaker
So that's what I remember back in my day. Things were a little different for me growing up in Detroit, but we moved around a lot. So I never was able to like build a reputation in one spot before I had to go somewhere else.
00:10:34
Speaker
So as far as work ethic would go, ah was just, like they said, just show up. As far as raking leaves and shoveling let snow. And growing up in um in the late, early 2000s, I think community was more fractured than it had ever been before.
00:10:49
Speaker
So it wasn't like ah a bunch of the neighbors like, hey, can your kid come cut the grass or whatever. The only the only consistent thing I did was shovel snow for the Coney Island across street from my grandmother's house.
00:11:01
Speaker
And just the fact that I would go over there every time it snowed and I would get the job done properly, it was always easy for me to say, hey, I want to come show you guys in snow. So so the the overall thing about building a good reputation would just be to show up, present yourself the way you want to be seen and complete whatever task to the best of your ability.
00:11:22
Speaker
And you always get a call back. And in order to get a good reputation, you got to present yourself well. on a consistent basis, you know, first impressions matter, but the consistency is what builds your reputation.
00:11:37
Speaker
Yeah. So as far as work, they kind of like, uh, kind of like what Joelle said, like, you know, showing up every day, working hard, be there, do my work, be a good example to the like new people that might come.
00:11:51
Speaker
Because like I said, I've been, I was at McDonald's for four years, like, you know, because it's that loyalty. I'll say that loyalty.
Earning Money and Gaining Independence
00:11:58
Speaker
You got, you have to show that you, I have to show that I want to be there, you know, in order like get raised and
00:12:06
Speaker
So making money is one thing, but what it means to actually have it and be stacked or have cheddar, as don't know if the kid said it anymore, is a whole different conversation.
00:12:17
Speaker
Whether it felt like freedom, responsibility, or just survival, and whether it was cash in your hand or a number in an app, having your own money for the first time usually feels pretty good.
00:12:29
Speaker
So here's the question. What did earning your own money actually feel like to you? Well, it gave me a sense of power. I felt like I never had to ask a person for something that I could do for myself.
00:12:48
Speaker
And that's what money did to me. I got an allowance. And because I wore uniforms every day from kindergarten through 12th grade, Oxford shoes,
00:13:01
Speaker
I didn't buy clothes. I didn't buy shoes. so I didn't wear makeup. So I had an allowance. And one day my dad gave me my allowance and he saw me put it in an envelope and he said, why am I giving you money? you save it and you never spend it.
00:13:21
Speaker
But the only thing I i bought off a record every now and then, because I had a little record player, But that felt good not to ask have to ask for money when I wanted to get something that I wanted.
00:13:39
Speaker
I would say freedom, little bit freedom, just having your own, not having to ask and just being able to spend what you wanted on within, you know, reason, because it also taught responsibility. Mm-hmm.
00:13:58
Speaker
If it's the value of the dollar, you know, oh, if it's your money, I want those Nikes. If it's my money, crowings are just fine. well you learn to balance your wants and your needs.
00:14:13
Speaker
But I do remember when I was working at Westmore Fruit Market, I was making like, think by the time I almost graduated from high school to make it $4.75. And then that summer I graduated, I got an internship at Ford and I was making $12 an hour. Man,
00:14:32
Speaker
i was getting my hair done every week, getting my nails done. I was like, okay, I thought I was living the big life, but I didn't have any like real bills, but it did, you know, I did get some life lessons. Um,
00:14:48
Speaker
make my own money in learning what's, you know, what's important, and what you want to spend your money on as a task. Yeah. Yeah. Like that value, the learning, the value of money is Yeah. Growing up, I grew up with so many people in the household.
00:15:03
Speaker
If you didn't earn your money, you wouldn't gonna you wouldn't go have anything. you wouldn't go like I didn't want pro ring, so I had to go out and make some money to not wear pro ring and be sliding across the playing basketball, sliding across the cement, or sliding across the basketball court.
00:15:25
Speaker
because So, and you wanted some donuts, you wanted some, you know, our food wasn't the best food. You wanted some Coney Island. You wanted, basically, you wanted some penny candy. You wanted to go to the arcade.
00:15:40
Speaker
You had to earn your own money. There there was no family money to get those things. So, you wanted a video game. Whatever you wanted, you had to earn it in our household and go buy it yourself.
00:15:52
Speaker
And, I learned the value of money just, you know, doing, you know, Usually spending most of the money I earned, of course, getting those things. But you learn the value of money early, young. Yeah. Back in our day. Because once your money was gone, you wasn't getting any from your parents. So you had to usually go out and earn some more money.
00:16:15
Speaker
One time I made a mistake of gambling with some older kids. So I got $20, $25 a week. And it was literally in like less than an hour. And that's why I don't really gamble today. Like I learned a life lesson real early. Like,
00:16:31
Speaker
Took my whole week. I worked a whole week and just give it to them. And they might have been working together to take out those $25. That's a lot of money. That was a lot of money back then. Yeah, back then in ah in the and then late 80s, $25, you go long, long, long, long way.
Personal Purchases and Financial Freedom
00:16:48
Speaker
So I would say just, as I said, we had to buy our own cars. We had to buy our own stuff so and in my household. So you had to earn own money. Yeah, I think me and John have similar experiences. It wasn't no family money for activities or cosmetic things or toys and stuff like that. So, and as a millennial, we kind of got, we still had arcades available, like kids still hung out at the mall and stuff like that. So,
00:17:15
Speaker
I want to go see a movie or catch the bus somewhere or go to an arcade. I had to figure out a way to make money. If I wanted junk food from the store, I had to figure out a way to, because my mother was not just like, oh, here's $10. Go to the store and get what you want. It wasn't, it was never that kind of vibe.
00:17:32
Speaker
And grow up with, william what's y'all call them, pro wings? We had British nights and I didn't like British nights either. So yeah, I think it was the same thing. I wanted certain things. I loved playing video games. I liked going to the arcade, going to see movies.
00:17:46
Speaker
And i knew early on that I had to go and figure out a way to have have funds for that. There was one small period of time during when I had my paper route where I would use most of my money to help my mom with the bills because we had just bought a house.
00:18:03
Speaker
But after that, that was the other than that, everything else was cosmetic. I would take my brother and sister, I would take them skating every weekend and stuff like that. So just just the freedom for me was the first thing I felt. I didn't learn responsibilities for way better in life.
00:18:19
Speaker
late 20s. I started being responsible in my late 20s. But, you know, yeah, and just that that freedom, that freedom is what fueled my work ethic. I think, I think, i think That even though I didn't learn the full responsibility of money, just the the the work ethic that I built up, just enjoying that freedom allowed me to to make the mistakes so I could learn those lessons later on.
00:18:46
Speaker
oh I don't like that. I remember when was little, I wanted a $5 bill for the first time. I finally got it. I was able to, I felt like I could just do what wanted. I felt like I was rich actually when I got on it.
00:18:59
Speaker
But I wanted to work as soon as possible. So when first got my job at go my first job at Jimmy John, I got my first check. It felt good. I felt like um I could pretty much buy like buy whatever I want. Like Joelle said, like go to the movies, go out with friends.
00:19:18
Speaker
didn't have to ask my parents. Because that's because ah honestly, and I still don't like to that, asking people for money, asking my parents for money. So like that's that's how I've been working ever since I was 14 just so I can like be more independent do things yeah i start doing things for myself and then yeah like can you know if we're going to now. then add your card or digital license Oh yeah yep say my yep say you know for my first car. Like, i think it's so I think it took me like, but yep, independence.
00:19:52
Speaker
All right, and that's a wrap on part one of Back in My Day, Summer in Part-Time Jobs. We talked about our first jobs, how we built our reputations and word-of-mouth resumes, and what it actually felt like to earn our own money.
00:20:08
Speaker
In part two, we're getting into what we spent our hard-earned money on, whether or not our parents made working mandatory, and what making money as a kid looks like nowadays. See you there, and remember, progress over perfection.
00:20:21
Speaker
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