I just realized that my 90’s teenage jobs are now all but extinct

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IGotFancyPants@reddit

I worked at Arthur Treachers in the early 80s. Gone.

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Massive_Put_5858@reddit

I worked at a 1 hour photo lab 😭 It was so much fun to develop people's photos

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well, to be clear this was almost twenty years ago and I obviously didn't agree with what my manager told me to do because I disobeyed her on purpose. but: the photos were disgusting, would probably be considered, at the very least, disturbing, and the roll also included several photos of him masturbating.

at the time, I didn't ask for a written copy of the policy. I said, "why?" she said "so other customers don't have to see the images" (the proofing screen was visible from the sales floor) and I said "okay" and then disobeyed her direct instruction two hours later.

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ThrowaWayneGretzky99@reddit

Whoooooooaaaaaaaa. Okay. My bad.

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Express-Structure480@reddit

I developed photos at Walgreens for a few years. The best photos were nature shots, the most entertaining was a night of debauchery like drinking or drugs, once got a wet tshirt contest. The most boring was from a commercial guy who took photos for insurance purposes of people’s homes, he’s regularly develop 8-15 rolls a day. There was a girl who was maybe 20, 1-3 rolls of selfies usually from the drivers seat of her car, about 2 or 3 times a week, she was attractive but I didn’t understand it and this was right before digital cameras became big so she could’ve saved herself a ton of prints.

Me too. Started at an indie shop that was the go to for the local pros. It was bought out by Wolf Camera. It was such a fun job with great people.

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FairBaker315@reddit

Not me, but a friend of mine developed photos at Wal Mart during college. One of her best was 2 Wal Mart employees who made very tiny bikinis out of Wal Mart smiley stickers.

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crazycatlady331@reddit

I worked at a CVS with a busy one hour photo lab.

We had a Strawberries. It became a Coconuts. Then an FYE.

nine_cans@reddit

Holy shit! I hadn’t thought about Strawberries in years. I bought all my music there back in the day. Patriots Square Strawberries ftw.

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solomons-marbles@reddit

https://localvyntage.com/products/strawberries

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Architect-of-Fate@reddit

I knew what you’re talking about… I’m a Massgole too tho- lol

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Shanbear16@reddit

Lol! I was going to ask if you were a Rhode Islander!

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BlueSnaggleTooth359@reddit

Never heard of it either and I'm just a couple states down.

I worked at a movie theater as a teenager.

This past weekend, we went to the movies. Nobody works the front counter anymore because all the customers buy tix on apps.

It was humbling.

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BeeSuch77222@reddit

I worked as a projectionist. Sure they're still around but I was handling film and film reels. It's all digital now.

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nuclearslug@reddit

Being a projectionist for my small town theater was awesome, especially when The Matrix came out. I’d watch that move over and over when I wasn’t having to spool up the next film.

schoolisuncool@reddit

Yeah! I have such fond memories of working in the theater. Best job ever

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BeeSuch77222@reddit

I know what you mean. It was like being in a complete different world. Don't have to deal with customers. A certain pride to the worn being done lol.

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schoolisuncool@reddit

Yeah and we worked hard for 1 hour, chilled for an hour and a half, worked hard 1 hour, chilled some more. Real good introduction to working for a teenager

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BeeSuch77222@reddit

Yupp.. that 1 hour rush, stress of making sure it's threaded properly, hopefully nothing is missed, running around. Then it's automatic. The sound. Seeing similar clips through the window since that's how the timing works.

I did have dreams though for a while after of trying to read my little schedule but couldn't make out the time and was stressed out I didn't know which and when the projector had to be started.

Radio Shack and Toys R Us. (I know the second one still tech exists in canada)

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cheap_dates@reddit

Call Center for a large hotel reservation desk. It was off-shored to India.
Brick and Mortar Securities Industry. My job was automated and went "online".

Oddly enough, one of my first jobs was returning the shopping carts back to the grocery store. That job still exists.

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Piccoloshis_Island@reddit

In the late 90s I worked at a place that did surveys over the phone. All the opinion polls you saw on the news networks, consumer surveys for the new Burger King french fry roll out, you name it, I interrupted people's dinner to ask them about it...on a landline. And my computer screen was green.

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deadonthei@reddit

I did this at a place called rsvp but I quit cause my 40yo boss wouldn't stop hitting on me. I was 16.

Plus it sucked cuz we couldn't ask direct questions it was all beating around the bush asking if they watched forensic files or drank dewars gin.

My computer screen was also green. Did your keyboard have a disgusting plastic cover?

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Piccoloshis_Island@reddit

My place was ICR. I was 18. We did not have the plastic. The whole place was gross and you could smoke at your station. But they had a huge basket of alcohol wipes to clean the phones and keyboards with.

I worked for the two small town local grocery stores and then the local roast beef place, all of which are still there, one did get bought by another local grocery chain.

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taoistchainsaw@reddit

Worked at a photo processing place.

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HumblePie02@reddit

Nature Company? Gone. Rand McNally? Gone. Galyan’s? Now Dick’s Sporting Goods. The Loft? Still around. Banana Republic? Still around. Country Inn & Suites? Still around. SunGard? Gone…

somehow

PezCandyAndy@reddit

1 hour photo. I lived in a college town and worked at the lab in a Walmart. Quite a lot of those pictures were of college kids having a good time. I never saw brutality or hideous stuff. Otherwise, it was anything from sex parties, drug use, some people flashing guns (or body parts). We also had a few regulars that visited from a foreign country, etc. There were car accident photos too, one of which included pics of a person who died from the collision. An S&M couple brought their photos in a few times. Per company policy, we were not supposed to print certain things, but they didn't pay me enough to care. People would also try to get around copyright by taking a picture of their Glamour Shots or other professional pictures, but we were not supposed to print those either. Again, I didn't care.

A few people learned which employees would or wouldn't print their stuff, and with some of my hours/days being permanent, my popularity jumped a bit on certain days. What I find funny is that the majority of those 'explicit' things people took pictures of are rather tame/normalized now. I was there when digital cameras came out... the Sony Mavica was one of the first we sold. The quality was crap, but I

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Tall-Author-2812@reddit

I worked front desk at a private athletic club with racquetball courts, pools, tanning beds, cafe, personal training, and massage therapy. They’ve mostly been taken over by corporate gym conglomerates now.

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melissisms@reddit

Aaron Brothers Art & Framing. I miss it so much.

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Entry-level jobs in general are disappearing. This is not just a nostalgia thing, it actually could be a big problem moving forward.

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TheJokersWild53@reddit

All of the places I worked as a teenager are out of business

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megatry1@reddit

I worked at Suncoast! I believe there are still two kicking around.

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Contempo Casuals.

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DDark_Devon@reddit

I worked at Pizza Hut as a waitress in the golden days (mid 90s), most Pizza Huts these days are just a store front with pick up and delivery only. Pizza Hut back in the day was so good, I worked the lunch buffet which as a customer was awesome, as a waitress it sucked.

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H3rbert_K0rnfeld@reddit

I worked at a local home appliance / electronics store as a warehouse boy in the early 90s. Think smokey dude in a suit hiking his leg up selling Zenith console televisions and refrigerators working commission.

Winn Dixie was my first real job, followed immediately by JC Penney. Both essentially defunct now.

everybodys_lost@reddit

I worked at a car dealership- filing their shop paperwork. No longer a thing.

I also worked at a weird store called the San Francisco music box company- sold music boxes at the mall. Neither the store nor the mall is still a thing.

I worked as a bank teller through college- I recently went to a local back because I wanted to just cash a check. Haven't done that in forever... Only one "teller" but it was really a personal banker type person and he literally told me there's no cash at this branch apart from the ATM. I thought I was in a Seinfeld episode... No cash... At the bank....

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cellrdoor2@reddit

I used the love that store! My mom would buy me a snow globe there every Christmas.

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everybodys_lost@reddit

Ok phew so I didn't imagine it all?? it seems like such a random business.

I did learn to wrap presents super nicely there - we used to offer free giftwrapping with purchase... I also learned about a lot of showtunes.

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Groovy-Davey@reddit

Mainer here. I loved Strawberries. They always had a ton of sampler and compilation cds for free.

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Groovy-Davey@reddit

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relationshiptossoutt@reddit

One of my first jobs was at Kinko's, which is now totally defunct although rebranded as FedEx Office. But I still miss Kinko's.

Mentioned it in a higher thread, but I worked as Store Security for Tower Records in the Philadelphia Region from 97-99. (Six stores on a rotation basis, with three of the stores right on South Street.)

Paid okay for the late 90's twentysomething, and every couple of weeks there would be some kind of promotional event (Album/Book signing, WWF/WCW was in town, or a mini-concert) to ride herd on. Staff ranged from kids of the 90's to their managers who were kids of the 80's.

Great times. Probably pound-for-pound the best two years I ever had working.

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I worked at a top tier chicken trading firm.

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ofTHEbattle@reddit

My older brother and sister in law both worked for Walden Books, they were both general managers at 2 different stores in the area during the late 90s into the early 00s. I loved going there as a teenager, the smell of a bookstore is something that is just ingrained in my brain now. The store my sister in law worked at held on into the early 2010s.

Let's see.

I worked at Blockbuster. Obsolete

I worked at MCI. Obsolete

And half my other jobs are places that have since closed.

I worked at a beloved local grocery store as a courtesy clerk. Unfortunately, the grocery stores have been gone for nearly 15 years, but I absolutely loved that job.

In HS and college years: I worked in a photo lab, at a movie theater, a custom frame shop in a mall, and a custom curtain shop. Three of the four were mom and pop operations.

I worked at Blockbuster, and then later I also worked at my favorite Mom ‘n Pop video store. God that place ruled.

Now that you bring it up, I've just realized all the jobs I did are still there.

To be fair, though, lugging around cases of cameras has been replaced with smaller cameras or phones.

The lighting equipment isn't much different, and neither are tripods, though.

I was talking the other week about making jumbo Jack's for a buck. Jack in the box was by far my favorite fast food option. Night shift ftw.

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junietwohundred@reddit

I worked at Waldenbooks and Babbages. Between first-gen Pokemon cards and the Dreamcast launch, I've seen some shit.

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universe-zen@reddit

My very first two jobs were as dishwashers when I was 14 and both places are still open to this day. But some other jobs I had as a teen are completely extinct

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HandsomeGemini@reddit

I worked at a restaurant that's still around, and I worked at Best Buy, though the store I worked at has since closed, but they still have another store in the area. But every other company I worked for before I graduated college is gone (Blockbuster, Circuit City, KB Toys, a local shipping store)

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blackhawksq@reddit

First job was carry out at Albertsons. ( knocking on wood) the only job I ever got fired from. Hated every second of it and had a horrible boss. They even tried to schedule during school hours and got mad when I told them. Stopped caring, stopped paying attention at one point, I put a 5 gallon water bottle on someone strawberries, then went home 2 hours before my scheduled time and didn't bother clocking out.