My First Job Was Working At WaldenBooks. What was yours?
Posted by bronzemat@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 799 comments
Posted by bronzemat@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 799 comments
Silent_Olive_6248@reddit
Walmart
thefeareth@reddit
Kirlin’s Hallmark during the Beanie Baby era.
Zipzifical@reddit
Cinnabon. I still get a hankering for one every once in a blue moon, but they're like $10 now and I just can't. I still make the frosting at home regularly, tho
bicyclewhoa17@reddit
Recipe please!
TrixieBastard@reddit
Seconding this request!
cianne_marie@reddit
Buddy can not drop that kind of tease and dip out. WE NEED IT.
Astrazigniferi@reddit
Please, come back and share! We need you!
It never occurred to me that it would be made with ingredients I’d have in my kitchen. I always assumed it was some unholy trans-fat confection from a factory run by a cinnamon-scented Oompa Loompa.
andrewordrewordont@reddit
To be fair, they haven't returned to prove otherwise 😼
mightysockelf@reddit
Psst.
It's just cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and confectioners sugar.
TrixieBastard@reddit
Yeah, but what are the ratios??
videoalex@reddit
Powdered sugar and milk.
Astrazigniferi@reddit
Powdered sugar and milk would just give you an icing. The frosting at Cinnabon is truly a fluffy frosting. Probably some combo of cream cheese, butter, and/or shortening, but the magic of the recipe is in the proportions.
callsignmario@reddit
When I worked closing at MusiclLand, loved walking by Cinnabon as they were getting rid of the end of day stock...
Great nom nom after smoking later in the night.
Coriandercilantroyo@reddit
Had a buddy that worked at a cinnabon and her coworkers would make pot cinnamon rolls after hours. The store got investigated for $2k of missing dough lol
itswhateverrrrr@reddit
Same for me except it was the Wherehouse and Mrs. Fields lol
the_cats_pajamas12@reddit
This was also my 1st job back in 2003. I took home so many expired packs at the end of the night I still have a hard time eating them.
Pree-chee-ate-cha@reddit
Terakahn@reddit
VHQ. Video rental store. Fun job while it lasted.
passion4film@reddit
Children’s swim instructor at the neighborhood pool
spanishpeanut@reddit
Kids R Us!! The clothing store that was an offshoot of Toys R Us and Babies R Us.
ActionDisastrous6339@reddit
Borders Cafe, baby! RIP
ViciousSnatch@reddit
Former Borders and Bookstar employee, circa turn of the century.
They were both the best and worst jobs. I miss talking books with people (I was there for the books, not the paycheck) and the perks. I had more stripped books and magazines from Bookstar to start a library! But I hated how corporate both companies were, the constraints of having good ideas that were never implemented, and how for a time they sucked my love of books out of my body.
salchicha_stew@reddit
Worked there in the summers my freshman and sophomore years of college! It was a great job!
kbrick1@reddit
Lucky!
NotMyRealNameAgain@reddit
Another former Walden then Borders employee here.
TerezaTylenol@reddit
Same! first job was at Borders and I loved it, went down with the ship when they went out of business. I miss that job it was awesome!
markuspeloquin@reddit
Minnetonka! But it was my second job.
missriss18@reddit
Go Twins!
SinisterDuck6114@reddit
Who owned ... wait for it ... Waldenbooks.
SmellTheRoses78@reddit
I worked at Borders almost my entire 20’s. Best job ever until it wasn’t.
Xander134@reddit
I was a bookseller until they trained me in the cafe, and you know how that went.
I actually still have some books with Binc stickers on them from my store (#390, Oak Park, IL). I treasure them.
ILootEverything@reddit
WarmSaltMilk@reddit
Movie Gallery!
whycantistay@reddit
It was my second job in high school- I can still remember the smell.
Glorificus98@reddit
CVS in the mall
mattpunk77@reddit
Little Ceasar's Pizza
Former-Fig3342@reddit
The infamous Luby’s in Killeen, Texas
1928brownie@reddit
Anyone remember this mall store?
letzrockaway@reddit
Working in subway!
Bklynswim@reddit
The Weathervane clothing store
dkglitch82@reddit
Six Flags as a ride operator. People entrusted their lives to a 16 year old in charge of a rollercoaster.
PackageNorth8984@reddit
Yeah, but you were paid like $5 an hour. Who would risk a sweet gig like that
zenigmatic@reddit
Also Six Flags, waterpark ride ops.
SinisterDuck6114@reddit
Oh, now, THAT is honestly a little terrifying.
Positively_Eric@reddit
Target
No_Macaroon_207@reddit
Personal_Eggplant703@reddit
My first job was at Cinnabon and people would get angry if there weren't warm ones ready when they stopped by. The manager was a jerk and fired all of us before he retired. Fun!
Jrmelancon@reddit
Total mall rat! Pulled double duty at Hot Topic and Suncoast video. I miss those days.
mmmeggars@reddit
Radio dispatch at a water bomber base. Not bad for a first job at 16
Forsaken-Society3524@reddit
If your dad was Mexican your 1st job was either a gardner, a framer, a roofer, a lather, a dry waller etc. Mine was framer. But 1st real job was at the local movie theater.
cecil021@reddit
I’m white AF but similar story for me. I grew up on a farm so I had to work on it like everyone else. I did get a small cut of the tobacco we sold. I also helped my dad with some carpentry/handyman jobs he took and also got a small cut. The first job I did for someone else was helping my basketball coach out with Little League. That was like $30/day but all the hot dogs from the concession stand that I could eat, lol.
SimpleVegetable5715@reddit
My parents didn’t pay me when I worked for them. So I didn’t know that counted. My mom was a landlord, and I cleaned properties between tenants.
Anemones_In__Spades@reddit
One of my husband's first 18+ jobs was as a drywaller traveling with a crew around the US. He's white af and didn't know shit going in but always wanted to learn. The crew taught him Spanish, a little about every trade, a lot about hanging perfect drywall fast as hell, and most importantly...how to bust some mf ass through a physically grueling day.
He always wanted a Dad who would teach him how to fix a car, build things, hime repair. It ended up being a construction crew building Walmarts, and he is grateful for it to this day. :)
Tressa_330@reddit
Dairy Queen
ReturntoForever3116@reddit
Kirkland's during the week. Local comic book store on the weekend. Did a short stent at Pac Sun too. I liked Mall jobs.
don51181@reddit
Dishwasher at a local restaurant.
Walden Books seems like it would be an interesting jobs
PackageNorth8984@reddit
That was any first full time job. I thought I was hot shit when they started letting me prep too. The pay was $8 an hour which was pretty good at the time.
_Internet_Hugs_@reddit
I made $4.25 when I was a dishwasher. I broke so many dishes, I probably should have been paying them to let me work there.
The owner was a friend of my mom. She just... stopped putting me on the schedule until I gave up.
Cody-512@reddit
$8.00 was awesome for the 90s. I was making $5.15/hr as a busboy/disher
PackageNorth8984@reddit
This was 2002. I worked before then, but that was my first full time job. I was 17 but turned 18 shortly after I got it. I finished high school at 16 in 2000.
Cody-512@reddit
Me too at 18. Our class song was Good Riddance by Green Day. What was u guys’?
PackageNorth8984@reddit
I don’t know. I took an exam to get out early. I think it was Graduation by Vitamin C? Maybe I’m misremembering though. I didn’t go. I “graduated” in the fall of 2000.
Robbbylight@reddit
Hell ya lol my first on the books, officially taxable job was McDonalds, $5.15hr. I was lucky to break $100 in a single check
Cody-512@reddit
🤣 me too and I thought I was hot shit bc I was making 2-3x as much as I was mowing yards. I could rent all the BB movies I wanted as long as I rewound them and returned them on time
chadork@reddit
I remember applying for a job that offered 9 bucks an hour and it was the best paying retail job in my area by a couple bucks. This was over 20 years ago. Got the job.
crazycatlady331@reddit
In 2000, a Kohl's opened nearby. They were starting at $7.50/hour and I thought I was rolling in the dough by going there.
OtherlandGirl@reddit
I wanted to work there so badly!!!! I couldn’t get a job at the mall, but I did get to work at everyone’s favorite memory, Blockbuster!
Dilly_84@reddit
Dishwasher at 13 in an Italian restaurant
Jonestown_Juice@reddit
My first part-time job was as a dishwasher too. At a diner called "The Busy Bee". It was open 24 hours and I worked late nights on weekends. All the drunks would come in after the bars closed. I saw some shit.
sea-marie_@reddit
Omg every day was different than the last I bet
Obi_Wan_Benobi@reddit
Same, but at Denny’s. Graveyard shift.
TheRealAutumnGoddess@reddit
Same dishwasher at a local restaurant when I was 15, until I started taking the bus to the mall when I was 16, then it was Häagen-Dazs. Awesome fucking place to work at the time during the late 90’s 🖤
browns47@reddit
I also worked at Waldenbooks. There was very little literary discourse - it was a lot of fielding phone calls from people asking “what was the name of that book Oprah recommended?” Or pointing teenagers to the Harry Potter section.
SharePretend7641@reddit
Six flags over Georgia.. I worked the games and know all the tricks hehehe
mcjefe80@reddit
Cici’s Pizza
Aardet@reddit
K-Mart! I was in ‘soft lines’ aka clothes and house stuff like curtains and sheets. At 17 I was already Asst Manager of Fashion Accessories which meant staying overnight once to mark down jaw clips.
I learned so much appreciation at a young age, though, for the soft rock on the K-Mart Radio Network. I am still rebuilding that playlist: Dan Fogelberg, Al Stewart, Ambrosia, Rita Coolidge, and so many more.
OllieFromCairo@reddit
Youth soccer referee.
You haven’t lived until you’ve red carded the batshit insane parent of a seven-year-old who definitely isn’t the next Pele and then told your dad all about it in the car when he picks you up because you aren’t old enough to drive yet.
atom644@reddit
Subway Sandwich artist
Brownie_0514@reddit
Denny’s
goodj037@reddit
Barnes & Noble
kpsi355@reddit
Oh we fancy here
goodj037@reddit
I applied to the cool downtown Borders first but was coldly rejected lol
kbrick1@reddit
Lucky bastard
Astrazigniferi@reddit
The first place I ever applied was Barnes & Noble. They said they didn’t hire anyone under 18. I ended up getting hired at the KB Toys next door that I only applied to because I was getting an application from B&N and figured I may as well pick applications up from all the businesses in the parking lot.
ForceGhost47@reddit
Shoetown. No joke the S on the neon sign went out.
SimpleVegetable5715@reddit
Like when someone marked out the C on Canal Street.
DrenAss@reddit
I used to live by a place called Cole Muffler. They made it to the front page of reddit around 2012 when two sections of neon went out and it said "le Muff".
Over_Echo1128@reddit
Hardees
Traditional_Isopod80@reddit
Chick-fil-A
Interesting_Bison909@reddit
codemonkey138@reddit
inventory nights were the worst....
1101base2@reddit
it may be the autism, but i loved inventory nights. put on a movie or music, crank it up to 11, then just enter a zen state scanning everything.
SimpleVegetable5715@reddit
There’s still companies that just do inventory, like for department and big box stores. Other stores will call them in to scan all their things.
geoduckSF@reddit
And working holidays. Had to open on Xmas day and missed the whole family get together. Went home and watched the “A Very Beastmaster Christmas” marathon on TBS. Sad.
cianne_marie@reddit
Nah, we had a great time doing inventory. We'd set up the end of day run, go across the street for drinks, come back slightly buzzed, put on a good comedy, and throw misplaced covers at each other across the store while snacking.
Anemones_In__Spades@reddit
I worked at a Hastings and yes...inventory night was a bitch. Especially since I had to account for the ones I'd pinched already. 😅
SimpleVegetable5715@reddit
Same! I loved that company.
qtjedigrl@reddit
BBV made me realize people are pretty terrible when they don't get their way
bejean@reddit
My wife worked at dairy queen and adults would curse them out when they ran out of long spoons.
qtjedigrl@reddit
It doesn't surprise me!
YellowBirdRules@reddit
Customers were awful when they wanted a particular movie. Just nasty.
MoviesFilmCinema@reddit
My video store (not BBC) had a wait list and people would get pissed they were #10.
tevamom99@reddit
Customers are nasty all the time. I was a cashier at a grocery store and we had to shout “liquor” any time someone came through the checkout with alcohol if we were underage. I was 15, and my manager couldn’t get there to scan fast enough and some mean lady yelled at me so much she made me cry.
qtjedigrl@reddit
Yup
Turbogato@reddit
I hated how they would stand at the return area and become your best friend as movies dropped in then they would say “Ohhh, is the The Long Kiss Goodnight?! DAMN!!”
qtjedigrl@reddit
We'd have a line going all the way to the back of the store and people would come up and demand we go check the box for such and such movie. And then swear at us for ruining their weekend
Peelboy@reddit
What ways did they want? You either had a video or you did not…
cianne_marie@reddit
Discounts. Free movies, expired coupons, late fees erased.
Turbogato@reddit
New releases. Always new releases.
gosuark@reddit
Project Store!
PiggyBear6667@reddit
Me too! But it was Reno, so it was called Major Video. We had Blockbuster training videos and the font on our name tags was distinctly Blockbuster.
Onelivestoblunder-CD@reddit
NicolesPurpleHair@reddit
My first job was also at a video store, but just a small video store in my small hometown.
I refuse to tell the younger people at work how old I am (just an ongoing joke between all of us), so I always tell them I’m old enough that I worked at a video store. Lol.
lilacsmakemesneeze@reddit
Same. Store 290441.
jibjeb86@reddit
Free popcorn, pop and movies. Can’t complain for a first job back in the early 2000’s
Sea_Repair_8630@reddit
Caesarland!
Fantastic-Setting-26@reddit
Farm worker at 12 years old. You could do that in 1979.
jgerhart1133@reddit
Radio Shack
KW5625@reddit
My 2nd job.
shawn615@reddit
This was my second job. Looking back on those days I actually loved it
TP_Crisis_2020@reddit
I REALLY wanted a job at our local radio shack when I was in high school, but they would never hire me no matter how many times I applied.
yeahoksurewhatever@reddit
I read this recently and strongly recommend. (I worked at a similar now defunct Canadian chain in my 20s) https://www.sbnation.com/2014/11/26/7281129/radioshack-eulogy-stories
jgerhart1133@reddit
Interesting read, I have enjoyed similar things in my time there.
KrissyPooh76@reddit
Mine was Kmart
forsovngardeII@reddit
Same! I miss it so much.
KW5625@reddit
McDonald's
$5.75 hr
elonmusktheturd22@reddit
Clerk/janitor at a college book store, i was 14, worked 32 hours a week all summer. Didn't get any money because while i saved it up my mother took it all after i cashed the last check and spent it all on a shopping spree for herself.
kbrick1@reddit
Oh my god! That sucks!
K2sX@reddit
I'm sorry to hear that. 😔 My mom did that kind of shit too. Like cash my tax return and get herself a tattoo.
Business_Curve_7281@reddit
Braum’s ice cream store
lisaboshell@reddit
Suncoast movies
Wak3upHicks@reddit
Doing laundry in a nursing home
kbrick1@reddit
Oh damn
sweetdee51@reddit
My first job was at Kmart making 4.25/hr
kbrick1@reddit
Same!!!!
OkieJitsu@reddit
Mine was also at K Mart making 4.30/hr I’m convinced so they could say they didn’t only pay minimum wage.
amiableviking@reddit
Carmike Cinemas
kbrick1@reddit
You have seen some gross things in your time?
Everyone I knew who worked at a movie theater loved it but had stories about roaches and/or assorted bugs, spooge and/or poop, and other gross things
mrs_thn@reddit
Little Caesar’s
hey_celiac_girl@reddit
Waldenbooks was my second job! Working at a movie theater was my first.
BigBabyWhale@reddit
K Mart
kbrick1@reddit
Ooh this is mind too! We used to have funoodle wars in the toy department after close and ride around in tiny bikes
GarciaWolf@reddit
Taco Bell. It was glorious I could make whatever I wanted
kbrick1@reddit
That was my dream
pixiecut678@reddit
Those sour cream guns were way too much fun.
rob132@reddit
Photo developer at CVS.
I saw some stuff
kbrick1@reddit
Oh I bet!
Phyukredd_tit_gydlin@reddit
Toys r us at 16. the same day I got my license was the same day I got the job
Mninaz@reddit
Walgreens. My interview was 9/11/01
kbrick1@reddit
Oh shit
FriedBreakfast@reddit
I was working in the warehouse at Service Merchandise.
kbrick1@reddit
Aha! That was my sister’s first job!
TP_Crisis_2020@reddit
LOVED that place. I used to ride my bike down to ours and just drool on the window of the BB gun case wishing that I could afford a sick BB gun some day.
KellyGreen55555@reddit
I remember how cool it was as a kid to see the stuff come down that conveyor belt at Service Merchandise!
kbrick1@reddit
Kmart when I was 15!
J_Beyonder@reddit
I use to acquire Playboys from there. I put them in the pockets or legs of my Paco jeans. I worked at movie theater and I did The Departed cop turn when some kids tried to sneak into South Park.
ScrimpyMuffin@reddit
IYKYK
Pezhead82@reddit
Mucket Bucket!
ScrimpyMuffin@reddit
We called it the Casket ⚰️
Pezhead82@reddit
Omg. I gotta say the new one near Londonderry, NH is wicked nice. If the one in the picture is the one I think it is - that one was particularly not nice lol
ScrimpyMuffin@reddit
The pic is Somerville, MA - but I worked at the one in Portsmouth, NH. The newer stores are far superior, but the older stores still have THAT SMELL … you know the smell I’m talking about.
Pezhead82@reddit
Unfortunately that smell is encased in my scent memories 🤮
ScrimpyMuffin@reddit
Demoulas AKA the Casket
eastmemphisguy@reddit
My hometown had a completely unrelated Market Basket that mostly only sold produce.
Ill-Percentage-3276@reddit
I don't think my family ever stopped calling it DeMoulas
ghostofmontro@reddit
Whenever I say it I have to use my aunt’s accent. Da-MOWL-asses.
My kids all worked there. One still does.
If I’m talking to an old-timer, I guess I qualify, I always use Demoulas.
ghostofmontro@reddit
Demoulases
IYKYK
cinemageekgirl@reddit
Ice cream slinger at Marble Slab Creamery.
Learned how to throw the ice cream in the air with the paddle and scoop, spin around and catch it before mixing it with 5378 calories worth of candy. This was in Texas in 2001, $5.25/hr but made (what I thought was) bank in tips on weekends.
Witty-Common-1210@reddit
McDonald’s!! When a hamburger was like 39 cents
bravosierrapolitics@reddit
I was a lifeguard at the local Y. Best summer job ever!
Newgeta@reddit
so much sun, fun, exercise, good looking people hooking up, drivers license attainment and underage party time.
after the current section of my life (mid 40s successful business and amazing wife/dogs) those 5 summers on guard duty were objectively the most fun I ever had in life.
Silly-Dot-2322@reddit
Hickory Farms sample person at the mall.
I turned 16, got my license and wrecked my parents new car the first day I drove. There were 4 other 16-17 year old friends in the car, all sustained minor injuries. My parents were cancelled from their insurance and sued.
My mom dropped me off at the mall the following weekend and said "don't come back out until you have a job".
Circa 1984, and a very true story.
Best-Salary-3961@reddit
Swensen's Ice Cream Parlour
sea-marie_@reddit
🤤😋
DramMoment@reddit
State Park that my uncle managed, but after that I worked at Media Play (a Sam Goody company).
Left-Court5674@reddit
Foxmoors- a clothing store in the mall.
ThePlatypusOfDespair@reddit
Snackbar at at the local swim club; we sold stuff like ice cream bars, candy and microwaved Elio's Pizzas. There was a kid there who liked to bully me and many shifts I would put food for myself on his family's tab, which he did eventually get in trouble for.
BigFatBlackCat@reddit
I can smell this picture, exactly.
comicalnamehere@reddit
McDonald's...lasted a whole week, then went to bus tables at a sports bar.
Lou_C_Fer@reddit
Stealing from waldenbooks.
Emotional-Film5261@reddit
summer of 1999, when i was 15, i got a job through my friend’s mother who was the head gardener at fashion designer Linda Allard’s estate in Washington, CT. $10/hr under the table to landscape the estate 5 days a week, i felt on top of the world. saved up and built my first PC at the end of the summer. i remember she had a V12 Mercedes convertible and she used to let us take it out for joy rides lol… good fucking times
cordelaine@reddit
Baling hay. Would probably kill me now.
hey_nonny_mooses@reddit
I was paid $1/hr to walk beans with a huge machete. I think I was 7.
Cancel_Electrical@reddit
I worked for a farmer that the bale was "kicked" into the tall wagons. Having to unwedge bales when loading onto the elevator was a pita.
14 years old often working till dusk. $4.25 an hour. It would definitely make getting out of bed the next day nearly impossible.
Klaatwo@reddit
Ooh thank you for the memory unlock. I remember one of my first driving experiences was very slowly driving the pick up with trailer attached through a field while my stepdad threw bales on and my mother stacked them. I want to say I was in the 8-10 age range.
God then you’d get them back to the barn and have to unload them onto the hay elevator to go up to the haymow and get stacked up there. There was so much pollen and dust involved in all of this.
Pretty much if your parents were farmers, something farm related was your first unofficial job.
cordelaine@reddit
It was already hot out in the field, but it was even hotter in the haymow.
Rust_Bucket37@reddit
Bigger operations have bale stackers and they run skid steers with clamping attachments to pick them up and place in trailers. Pretty cool to watch in action.
i_nobes_what_i_nobes@reddit
YMCA camp lifeguard / babysitting
Longjumping_Ad_4431@reddit
Filene's Basement
sea-marie_@reddit
Omg im jealous
jasmin8ter2013@reddit
Kamloops Food Bank
jackfaire@reddit
I worked for a company that hired teens for forestry projects.
HelpImOverthinking@reddit
I was a summer camp CIT at a camp where'd been a camper a few years earlier. I still have the staff shirt--I wore it this weekend and the C sewn on the sleeve is finally coming off :( It's one of those nice thick Champion t shirts. I got it in 1995.
minxwink@reddit
Babysitting at 13, then sales clerkin at the Polo Ralph Lauren outlet in Atlantic City three years later
guiltypleasures82@reddit
Perfume counter at Burdines. Was a FL department store that got bought out by Macy's.
K2sX@reddit
I remember thinking Burdines was SO fancy.
persimmon9847@reddit
Same!
ChiMara777@reddit
First jobs ever were babysitting and housecleaning.
My first “real” job with an actual paycheck was lifeguarding at the beach.
persimmon9847@reddit
Rita's Italian Ice
Own_Ad9652@reddit
HumbleAbbreviations@reddit
Gallery 37. A city sponsored art program.
EssentialEssence@reddit
Wonderful_Charity411@reddit
Cranbury Paint and Hardware
RoknPa@reddit
Hiking and horse trail maintenance for $2.15/hr USD. Scouting and digging out old trails and repairing stream trails in Bear Valley Springs, California.
Boomer
vbones82@reddit
Orange julius
PennydumbTheClown@reddit
Arby’s.
wittylemur@reddit
Hostess at tumbleweed- I was 14
clarkieawesome@reddit
BK fryer.
Lonely_Ad6299@reddit
I bagged groceries and pushed carts at Albertsons. As a teenager it was a great way to meet girls from other schools back then when it was normal to talk to people you didn’t know.
Nilla22@reddit
EvilRSA@reddit
Tilts and Tumbles (Arcade and Playland) owned by Nickels and Dimes Inc.
TragicDog@reddit
Boy Scouts of America scout store. 😀
superjonk@reddit
Dang, was probably 5 something with tips being a busser at Village Inn
Underdog424@reddit
Tower Records. It was so much worse than you'd imagine.
IvenaDarcy@reddit
McDonald’s and still have my first paystub. Might post it here. It was like $4.35 an hour I think? Unreal to think about making that much an hour for that work now. Fast food was hell lol
Bright_Respect_1279@reddit
Papyrus, an upscale getting card store. I learned a life-long skill there-- how to wrap any gift beautifully. 🎁
Ditzy_Davros@reddit
Talking Book World
When_pigsfly@reddit
Drug Emporium. They don’t exist anymore, but it was just like a Walgreens or CVS. I was a cashier and we didn’t have scanners so all prices were typed in.
SR-45@reddit
Sacking groceries and collecting shopping carts at Kroger. Katy, Tx. 1980’s.
el_piablo@reddit
Fazoli’s
el_piablo@reddit
Fazoli’s
Brave-Departure-2063@reddit
I also worked at a Waldenbooks!
Ok_Researcher_9796@reddit
On the books? Publix as a bag boy. But before that I worked in construction under the table when I was 15-17.
ScrumptiousPrincess@reddit
A&W when they still had the speaker menus and people ate in their cars with the server trays clipped on the windows.
1101base2@reddit
dishwasher then fry cook at a BBQ restaurant in KC...
PurpleWillingness909@reddit
Sonic Drive In. When they still delivered trays on skates.
TP_Crisis_2020@reddit
Man, it seems Sonic used to be way cooler back in the day than it is now. I remember when our town got our first Sonic, it was a BIG deal. It was always packed, and the car hops all skated. Before they even had a drive thru; you HAD to order from the stall. Ours was on the main strip of our town and every Friday and Saturday night it was packed with everyone that was out cruising.
All the Sonics that I still see around seem like ghost towns compared to what they used to be, and I never hear people talk about them anymore.
PurpleWillingness909@reddit
Yes! There was no drive thru option. Our sonic was on the main drive of my small town so we’d park there and wait for friends and cute guys to drive by. Working on the weekend didn’t suck because all my friends were up there hanging out!
duckythechikn@reddit
Miller's Outpost / Anchor Blue. My store closed and I got severance pay. I was 17 and it was very funny to me at the time.
Thunderpuppy2112@reddit
Mailboxes Etc
Sacmo77@reddit
Eckerds pharmacy cashier.
Reasonable-Company71@reddit
Flipping burgers at Jack In The Box for $5.25 in 2002
JollyJeanGiant83@reddit
Washing dishes on breakfast shift the days a week, freshman year. After 2 semesters I managed to transfer to the library, thank God.
Ferrodactyl@reddit
This looks exactly like the Waldenbooks that used to be at Northgate Mall in Hixson, TN.
Servilefunctions218@reddit
I forgot all about Walden Books!
Glittering_Rush_1451@reddit
KB Toys
queenofdan@reddit
Same, but their headquarters. I was a sales auditor and then became an accountant there. It was a great place to work with excellent benefits.
Astrazigniferi@reddit
Same! It was a freaking awesome high school job. Our manager used to let us demo out lightsabers and have lightsaber battles in the store. Plus we could ride the bikes around the building when we brought them in at night.
Do you remember THE TIE-IN BOX??
imanangrybutterfly@reddit
Same
MissMaryEli@reddit
Crown Books. I still love the smell of a book store.
queenofdan@reddit
I was the switchboard operator at Sears! I also did all the announcements!
MrdnBrd19@reddit
My first real job was at AOL. Best job ever. Before that I worked at my dad's law firm during the summers because I wasn't allowed to have a real job while I was in high school.
TakashiMifune85@reddit
yeuzinips@reddit
First official paycheck came from Arbor Drugs
SlapHappyDude@reddit
Corn detassling. First "normal" job was Burger King. I moved up from broiler to burger board pretty pretty quickly.
BritOnTheRocks@reddit
I didn’t last long enough to get off broiler duty. Slapping those frozen patties on the conveyor belt was mind-numbing work.
themoonhasgone@reddit
Hostess at dennys
BritOnTheRocks@reddit
I worked at Burger King
Making flame-broiled Whoppers
I wore paper hats
Would you like an apple pie with that?
Would you like an apple pie with that?
For real though...
Successful-Excuse662@reddit
I managed a welding books for a year during the last Harry Potter book
Winwookiee@reddit
Hollywood Video. Good times. One of the easiest jobs I've ever had.
Fickle_Wrangler_7439@reddit
Suncoast for me.
No_Reporter2768@reddit
I babysat, but first real job was at Fazolli's - an Italian fast food chain
OkTemperature8080@reddit
Kmart. Electronics. Used my employee discount to buy the last GameCube on launch day.
Useful-Permission167@reddit
Video store!
Polarbearstein@reddit
Barista at a local coffee house/book store. The owner roasted his own beans every Friday, it was a heavenly smell.
BalkiBartokomous123@reddit
I worked at Bonzana, an establishment that is also gone.
wildmaninid@reddit
Safeway and Kinney Shoes
Desireei@reddit
Blockbuster Video. While I worked there we slowly did away with the remaining VHS inventory, transitioning to exclusively DVDs. When I first started working there, we still rented out VCRs in a big plastic box and had to make sure all the tapes were rewound before we reshelved them. I’m still a big movie buff to this day.
SoTiredYouDig@reddit
Another bookstore. It was called Village Books N’ Things, an independent in my town.
kieran_dvarr@reddit
Huh.. no other pizza huts yet. Prepping dough and making za for the boys. Gods i still cringe at the amount of oil we put in pan pizzas.
Reagannite1981@reddit
Courtesy Clerk at a local grocery store. Bag groceries and take them out to the car for customers. Nearly 30 years ago and still my favorite job. I loved working with the retired guys who were doing it for something to do. Many of them were WW2 veterans who always had a smile on their face and a story to share. Always closed on Sundays and then the yearly picnic at their family farm.
Sadly that grocery store is no longer around. Miss it still
aubreypizza@reddit
Albertson’s. Courtesy Clerk aka grocery bagger and take to your car person.
HandaZuke@reddit
My FIRST job was a paper route. But it was only one day s month and only a few zones.
After that i worked as a mall information booth attendant / mall security dispatcher.
After that i worked at a Walden’s Software store. Walden‘s books wanted to sell software as they sold books, but they realize later it was much different than Books so they gave management to electronics boutique..
And finally after that i worked at Maxis Software which was my first professional job.
TehPaintbrushJester@reddit
Did you work on the early Sims or SimCity games?!
HandaZuke@reddit
Late. SimCopter, SimGolf, Marble Drop, The streets of SimCity, and Crucible. Though i was around fire Dollhouse which was the early name for The Sims and Spore.
Sometime late i worked on Reader Rabbit and Clue Finders series.
TehPaintbrushJester@reddit
Very cool! I miss Maxis so much and my wife and I have played since Sims 2 (which was honestly my favorite The Sims) and my whole family adored Spore. Thanks for all your hard work!!!
here4pain@reddit
Had to scroll WAY down to find this. Me too
Awkwardpanda75@reddit
Did you remain in software or go a different direction after that?
HandaZuke@reddit
I transitioned from software support and testing to web testing. Started my own software QA business and supported many corporations with their web projects. Just before the pandemic i started focusing on an accessibility specialist role which landed me a job with a FAANG where i have been the last 6 years.
Awkwardpanda75@reddit
That's a great transition. Thank you for sharing; you have the moxy 🥹
HandaZuke@reddit
I spent a few years doing software support and testing. The worked on a lot of edutainment games in the late 90s. After that i was working on web testing. Late 90s early 2000s dot com (bomb) stuff
By the late 2000s i landed a job at Chevron and their web team. Eventually starting my own QA company.
I did that for a long time but i eventually transitioned to an accessibility specialist role which I’m bow doing at a FAANG.
xxlittlemissj@reddit
A cashier at a grocery store. I pushed carts for a day, but got told my shorts were too short, so they just told me to forget it and come in for cashier training. BTW, I was 15 and 102 lbs, so pushing carts has heavy and sucked.
101violations@reddit
Nathan's Franks.
I ate my paycheck in cheese fries 🤣🤣
andiluxe@reddit
A Wolf Camera 1 hour photo lab in a mall.
Weird-Ninja8827@reddit
Kmart starting the summer before I turned 16. Our neighbor was their HR manager.
ShiraPiano@reddit
At one of the 4 Dunkin Donuts in my town.
ItsAsickOstrich@reddit
Famous Footwear.
_R_A_@reddit
Under the table, local greenhouse. Got a job when I was 14.
On paper, small independent grocery store in town. The kind of place you hardly see these days.
VicYuri@reddit
Bradlees
uwec95@reddit
Detasseling corn.
genericusernamedG@reddit
I always did yard work but one summer I decided to get a job and they had a summer job program organized on base.
Everyone else my age was doing manual labor (grounds keeping, one worked with a mechanic, another in the mess hall). I was assigned to a secure facility that I couldn't access because I didn't have a security clearance.
Guys put a desk and two chairs out in the entrance and gave me a radio with a CD player.
Otherwise it was a great way to get paid to read comics and play cards for $11 an hour.
hokie47@reddit
Water quality expert at the water park. I was going to be a lifeguard but they needed someone and it paid better. Great Summer job, besides having to wake up at 530am to clean the multiple pools and attractions. Besides that I would just test the water amd and did my best to keep everything in spec.
Don_Shetland@reddit
Wendys, back when you still had your repeat the order into a microphone for the "cooks" & they still had the "super bar" salad bar.
TP_Crisis_2020@reddit
Yellow Wendy's was the best.
I had a fast food job at 16, but it was at a local fast food chain.. we still had to say the order over the loudspeaker for the cooks as well, since they didn't have any sort of order system. We'd have to say the order over the intercom, and then hang the ticket on their order board. Very old school.
HeyYouTurd@reddit
I miss that salad bar
Zombifiedmom@reddit
I handed out skates at a skating rink.
TP_Crisis_2020@reddit
One of my friends growing up, his grandfather built the local skating rink in our town. It was a social center for a LOT of the town and was a pretty big deal. Being family, he started working there even as a young kid, and when we were in high school he was the DJ for cosmic skate nights and lock in nights. The dude was OOZING cool with that job. We all wanted to be him, or at least be a fraction as cool as he was!
Arisyd1751244@reddit
Working at Lechters Housewares with my best friend at 16
audiojunkie5356@reddit
Hollywood Video. Best HS job ever.
jetpack324@reddit
Nyotree-001@reddit
Walden books was my first full time job after high school
here4pain@reddit
Paperboy
tikaani@reddit
One summer in a firework stand. Think circus sized tent. I was 7
JessBx05@reddit
Dymocks (an Australian bookstore chain) 🙂
Apprehensive-Dog6997@reddit
Crown books, so obviously we’re mortal enemies now.
TP_Crisis_2020@reddit
At a little local fast food place called Braum's the day I turned 16. Then, it was at our Sam Goody in the mall all throughout high school.
CannaPeaches@reddit
Cainesbrother@reddit
Somewhere local. But shortly after turning 18 I got a seasonal job at Wilson's Leather
MoneyPresentation610@reddit
I had a seasonal job as a cart pusher for Toys r Us, when I was 15, back in 1999.
cozysparklessunshine@reddit
Walmart garden center And why would so many people ask me advice on plants???? I was 16
adamkissing@reddit
Old Navy
Hyphum@reddit
Walgreens - my friend Doug and I used to sing TMBG songs while we mopped
hellalazy@reddit
Montgomery wards portrait studio
AngryKeyLimePie@reddit
Cashier at Giant Foods. I lasted 2 years there.
Traditional_Entry183@reddit
College work study, the day I turned 18 and was allowed. Office assistant/delivery boy.
zinga_zing_@reddit
Same, OP!!!
misskellycupcake@reddit
At 14 I was a junior cay camp counselor
geekdadchris@reddit
If we don’t include the paper route I had at 12 then Arby’s at 16 was my first job.
xenomorph_704@reddit
Shoe Carnival. The kid's department got so trashed we had to put up actual crime scene tape to close it off.
Jumpy_Sail_4852@reddit
I worked at a local BBQ pit.
emozolik@reddit
trollinhard2@reddit
Discount Auto Parts. It was a small chain based out of Florida. It eventually got bought out by Advance Auto Parts.
ObiWan-Shinoobi@reddit
AMC theaters.
ciphershort@reddit
Kmart
tevamom99@reddit
Under the table was babysitting and picking up a cleaning job for my aunt. First job with a paycheck was cashier at my local grocery store.
Gotbannedagain86@reddit
McDonald’s it was the year 2000. I was making $4.10 an hour.
refuge9@reddit
Unofficially: rolling newspapers. Officially: working at six flags.
rick912@reddit
I can still put the curl on DQ soft serve 😉
bmmb87@reddit
A cashier at Petro. The men were complete pervs and assholes.
SLyndon4@reddit
Hardee’s. I worked the registers and drive-thru, cleaned the restaurant between customer orders, and sometimes opened the restaurant for the day and started pots of coffee and tea. If I hadn’t already disliked sweet tea, I would have shunned it after working there, because the sweet tea recipe we had to follow had an absolutely appalling amount of sugar in it. Like, probably as much as soda. 🤢
Blurstingwithemotion@reddit
Paperboy
BugEquivalents@reddit
I worked in a local video store!
WindhamEarl22@reddit
You were living the dream
BugEquivalents@reddit
It was a good gig at the time
WindhamEarl22@reddit
I worked at Blockbuster then the video counter at Albertsons. I loved it. I would have really rather worked at Videoland instead.
ineffable_my_dear@reddit
Me too!
MrMeeeeSeeeeks@reddit
Spencer gifts
LatterFail5208@reddit
My first job at the mall.
Ilikedinosaurs2023@reddit
My very first was at a mom and pop dancewear store that flipped to Halloween costumes during Sept and Oct. They made us work 12 hr shifts, no sitting, and would regularly try to get kids to cut school to come work during the day....but my first real W-2 job was at this gem of the 90s/2000s mall culture. LMFAOOOOO...I hated it but I'd 100% go back to those days if I could. 🤣
jaymdubbs@reddit
patio cleaner at restaurant; bag boy at grocery store (held both at same time when I was 14). by 16 added Kmart and the mall. most I had was 3 during the summers growing up
pinkstrawberrycandy@reddit
Abercrombie, sometimes I swear I can still smell the cologne
Strange_Ad5530@reddit
Books A Million! I was pretty much the only one of mt friends that didn’t work at Publix 😂
SylancerPrime@reddit
Blockbuster Video
5 free rentals a week, best employee perk when you're in high school
Sea_Working_80@reddit
Tarks Clam Stand in florida
bakedsalmononcedar@reddit
Walden Software here!
pittdancer@reddit
jcargile242@reddit
Little Caesar’s (Pizza! Pizza!)
Accurate-Temporary73@reddit
I was a caddy at a private golf course.
Such a cool job and I really took it for granted when I was young.
EarlBeforeSwine@reddit
Farm hand
Kuroude7@reddit
Paperboy. I think that alone says something about my age. 😅
Money_Magnet24@reddit
Chief Auto Parts
Cashier
Paid minimum wage in 1991 was $3.80 then $4.25 in California.
Independent_Chef9991@reddit
There was a Walden software game store.
Few-Employ-6962@reddit
A place called Industrial Gas ana Supply as an office assistant for the summer.
Youdontknowm3_@reddit
Knock off Levi's jeans shop on canal street 😅
WindhamEarl22@reddit
Wilson’s Leather
girlchef79@reddit
Hallmark—selling greeting cards, ornaments, etc. People bought way too many knick knacks back then. And the Beanie Baby craze… that was a nightmare to work through. Id witness the worst of humanity over a damn $5 bear.
zombietrooper@reddit
1999 to 2003
Fluid_Fee_2239@reddit
Fluid_Fee_2239@reddit
The amount of people who will willingly answer a forgotten password question online is shocking.
wthulhu@reddit
Cold Call Telemarketing for AT&T
nobody2099@reddit
A jack in the box in Glendale Arizona. The one on Thunderbird if it’s still there?
jays_all_day@reddit
KB toy store at the mall
Wild-Sky-4807@reddit
Party City
TallTXTrash@reddit
Hell yes. I got a job at party city like 3 days after I turned 16 through a girl a grade ahead of me who was dating a Senior I was friends with. She only worked there for like 2 more weeks after I was hired but I ended up getting 5 of my friends a job there within the next couple of months. $5.50 an hour to stock shelves, fill balloons, and occasionally work the register. Absolute dog shit job with a couple of horrible managers who hated life and took it out on us, but when the whole crew on a shift is friends and there were actually a couple of decent managers who understood we were high-school kids who weren't in this for the long haul and let us be kids as long as we didnt come in smelling too much like weed it could be pretty fun. Except for Halloween time, fucking Karens galore who acted like we had control over what costumes we stocked and it was out fault little Timmy wasn't gonna get to be a Ninja Turtle cause we were sold out the day before Halloween.
chaosmnky@reddit
rah0315@reddit
Sears!
PutridWar4713@reddit
Tobacco, in 1965 working for Hathaway Steane in Southwick Massachusetts. $5.00 and hour. Mostly in the sheds! Sewing.
Brilliant_Activity39@reddit
Radio commercial voice overs from 8 until 13 years old. Whenever a spot called for a child's voice, instead of using a female announcer, I was used due to my proper diction. Well, that plus I worked for peanuts ($10/spot). I think I may have made $200 a year, mainly around the Christmas season.
allthatssolid@reddit
Sold shoes at Wild Pair
Ok_Profession_990@reddit
Snowball stand for anyone from Baltimore area
keetojm@reddit
Target great land. Ugh
thelittlestduggals@reddit
Counter girl at a restaurant/pizza shop
Arcane_Sirenn@reddit
worked at a local movie theater, best free popcorn ever
_somelikeithot@reddit
JC Penney, in the juniors department. 16 years old.
Affectionate_Hornet7@reddit
Pier1
thelittlestduggals@reddit
I miss waldon books. My mom used to take me when I was younger and get me a Berestain Bears book like every other week.
Mememememememememine@reddit
Babies R Us
Ok_Illustrator_1430@reddit
Gap that transitioned to Old Navy 😂
sea-marie_@reddit
The French Oven - a French food/bakery in the mall. 🇫🇷🥖🥐
kronik419@reddit
Quiznos.
AlwaysSleepingBeauty@reddit
Toys r Us
RetroRandyGTFO@reddit
Golf caddy and then a landscaping for a drunk
Relative_Top_2353@reddit
Bussing tables at the fanciest restaurant in town.
Delic10u5Bra1n5@reddit
Babysitting off the books and then admin for my dad’s rinky dink modem company (yes for real)
ArtBear1212@reddit
Baskin-Robbin’s
Kaleidoscope_sky@reddit
Chuck e cheese
orion192837@reddit
Paper route.
I started during 8th grade. I'd wake up early before school and deliver papers for a few streets in my neighborhood on foot. Every Sunday, my mom would help me bundle the ads into the Sunday edition and we would drive around and I would refill my bag from the trunk of the car.
I would go around every other Friday to collect. I forget how much each subscription was but I got tipped really well. I had little black notepad with each customer's subscription and I'd keep track of who didn't pay.
As a first job, it was great. I used the money that I earned to buy my first bass guitar and my first car at 18, and the newspaper gave me a scholarship for college for completing 4+years of deliveries Looking back 25 years later, it was key to developing discipline and a work ethic that I carried with me.
TheMaskedLuchador@reddit
AMC 24 in Deerbrook Mall.
Junebug35@reddit
onepieceweeaboo@reddit
Jamba juice
Admirable_Tomorrow_6@reddit
Blockbuster Video! 😆
BlondeCrackHead@reddit
Sbarros pizza in the mall
wrenwood2018@reddit
Movie theater. It was a fantastic job as a 16 year old.
IOughtaWriteABook@reddit
Pizza Hut. $5.15/hr
OlHeavyHeart@reddit
Usher at movie theater when I was 15. Tear tickets, chill, repeat. Sometimes clean up after a movie ended. Pretty good first job.
I_AM_DEATH-INCARNATE@reddit
Local grocery store. Coworkers were fun as hell. We all drank in the produce cooler
Cast2828@reddit
Outside of paper delivery, McDonalds and did a coop at a comic shop around the same time.
Accomplished-Pen4663@reddit
Sam Goody
AnyAngle7212@reddit
I worked at a little local zoo.
SignoreBanana@reddit
Worked at a GameCrazy (part of Hollywood Video)
FiveCrappedPee@reddit
Freshens Yogurt at the mall. I lasted about a month because my friend who worked at JCrew was giving me a ride home and I was closing so he offered to mop to get out quicker, and apparently I'm guessing a mallcop ratted me out and I was fired. Fun times.
TrixieBastard@reddit
Mall cops always have the biggest chips on their shoulders, I swear. It's like they're all mad that they aren't real cops and get a terrible attitude about it 🙄
NWGirl2002@reddit
I call them academy drop outs
DeltaFlyer0525@reddit
I put together shower parts and got paid by the box. Each box had 200 parts that needed to be connected to another box of part. I got paid 10 dollars a box. That job paid for my Super Nintendo and a TV. Best job a kid could have and it was way better than dumpster diving for cans to recycle. My first real job paid legally was as a camp counselor.
--Citation-Needed--@reddit
Pizza Hut delivery
knotalady@reddit
First few jobs: KFC Harris Gottschalks Miller's Outpost
Altruistic-Tank4585@reddit
McDonald’s! Still have friends from there. We had a blast!
bashturd@reddit
Sbarros
ArmedRawbry@reddit
McDonald’s for 1 Saturday. 😂
NoItsNotIronic@reddit
Line operator at an oil filter factory.
TheDukeofArgyll@reddit
Target, for fired for being bad at reading the schedule.
itsnotanemergencybut@reddit
My first job was at The Disney Store (RIP)
aoanalyst@reddit
The grill at McDonalds. Ngl, it was kinda fun.
Efficient_Leopard141@reddit
Rack Room Shoes. My friends called me Al Bundy
NotYetHun@reddit
File person in the service department of a car dealership
absentlyric@reddit
Lucky! I tried SO hard to get hired at that place, or any bookstore, but nope. My first job was washing dishes at a Chinese Restaurant. I was the only english speaker, we all had to each lunch together in the back, they would talk, I'd just eat in silence.
StaffyMama585@reddit
Very first job was at Chuck E. Cheese. Toxic fucking environment.
mouseisnotamouse@reddit
Carl’s Jr.
brianonthescene@reddit
Great American Chocolate Chip Cookie Company
Would you like a second double doozy for $5 total?
K2sX@reddit
Same!
brianonthescene@reddit
I once ate an entire tray if cheesecake brownies in one Saturday shift. I was barely 150 pounds.
K2sX@reddit
Ah the metabolism of youth.
Lovingleighpaige@reddit
KFC
Dare2BeU420@reddit
Cleaning hotel rooms and McDonald's (if you don't count babysitting)
tatertottle@reddit
Hobby Lobby, but ended up in the frame shop after a year or so. That was pretty good, considering the company.
Actual_Swingset@reddit
Shopko
Practical_Today4803@reddit
Dishwasher at friendly’s
yranigami001@reddit
First job, Clark Drugs, stocker.
Second; B Dalton Bookseller, invoices & deliveries
PoxTheDragonborn@reddit
Babbage's, I was there when the PS1 came out, as well as Virtual Boy
NWGirl2002@reddit
Seasonal at Sam Goody
hbooroji@reddit
Panera Bread
Maleficent_Gas5417@reddit
At a music store that was next to a waldenbooks
Emotional_Pay_8830@reddit
Winn-Dixie grocery store
videoalex@reddit
ComputerCity! Which seems fake. But I was there when windows95 came out. We also sold Mac Clones and laser printers that were powered by LED. It was owned by Tandy, who also owned Radio Shack.
A computer store with a magazine section. What a time.
Lawrenceburntfish@reddit
Mervyn's. Folding jeans.
s-face@reddit
My first job was when I was 17 at Zany Brainy. Anyone remember that place? It was a super fun job and I worked my way up to assistant manager until it went out of business.
Mandze@reddit
In peak 90s teen fashion, I had taught myself HTML, so I had a hustle making websites for local small businesses and non-profits.
Foreign_Donkey463@reddit
Boston Market
HeyYouTurd@reddit
Damn kinda miss that place
Foreign_Donkey463@reddit
I recently watched a YouTube video of its downfall and I was suddenly craving their mashed potatoes
HeyYouTurd@reddit
Loved all their side choices
touslesmatins@reddit
Same! I'd come home smelling of chicken grease. Not ideal, because I was vegan at the time haha.
mischievous_misfit13@reddit
Antique shop.
viridiansoul@reddit
McDonald's, but lasted three days. My first real job was as a part time housekeeper at Quikrete, mostly the offices because they are always covered in a layer concrete powder.
Phriendly_Phisherman@reddit
Schlotzkies deli. I dont think the franchise exists anymore but they did make some bangin sandwiches back in the day
ThisWomanFromCanada@reddit
Druxy’s . I got fired.
ZimmiMane@reddit
Wehrenberg Theatres in the mall in the 90's. The best first job a 16 yr old kid could ask for! Seen so many movies for free from Titanic to the original Scream. 5 years of ticket stubs I still have! Good ole days...
unzala@reddit
Sub counter at a local grocery store. Then promoted to the deli. Nowadays, I sometimes still want to jump behind the counter and slice my deli meat the way I like it instead of explaining it. I promise I know what I'm doing and I can do it faster!
keto_and_me@reddit
This picture makes me want to read some Babysitters Club and Nancy Drew Case Files.
Johnykbr@reddit
4 months at a Burger King. I can still eat there. I took my job wayyyyy too seriously.
Much_Zucchini8826@reddit
Hollywood video
BrittaUnfiltered67@reddit
Cleaning all the dirty bloody sheets at a launderer that had exclusive contracts for the city hospitals. I probably cleaned the sheets my parents died on. When they dies the nurse assured me that they through away the sheets. They don’t. Blood comes out well with those harsh chemicals and machines used at the launderer I worked at.
HeyYouTurd@reddit
Uh dang man 😮
BrittaUnfiltered67@reddit
It smelled so bad in there. I also had to mop up the blood that dripped on the floor and had to crawl into running machinery to remove lint.
PullHairUpButNotOut@reddit
McDonalds here, but speaking of dead mall stores, I worked at Sam Goody for a bit
Kyosuke-D@reddit
Winn Dixie at age 14 as a bagger on the weekends!
GoodElectricNW@reddit
Disk Jockey music at the Lakewood Mall.
spazilator@reddit
I worked farm jobs from 12-15 years old. Mostly feeding cattle, grooming horses, fencing, haying, cleaning horse and cattle stalls and chicken coops, and assisting the farmer with raising game birds (quail and pheasant). I would babysit the younger children at church every Sunday and assist the bible school instructor. At 15 or 16 I worked as a dishwasher after school at a local restaurant, and worked at the farm on the weekends. By 17 I was working as a prep cook/front of house before getting a job at Ames.
No_Contribution81@reddit
Washing dishes at my Uncles restaurant. I also peeled A LOT of potatoes.
OkFee9867@reddit
I worked at Contempo Casuals. Hated it. I worked the holiday season in the only mall in the area I lived, it was horrible.
KellyGreen55555@reddit
Claire’s Boutique! My best friends worked at Rave and 5-7-9. Mall jobs were so fun.
KinkMountainMoney@reddit
Slinging square bales.
Worth-Weather-5437@reddit
TCBY
User8675309021069@reddit
Full service gas station attendant at a Standard station.
I was one of the last. Except in New Jersey of course.
sarahzilla@reddit
Joanne Fabrics was my first job.
yeltrah79@reddit
If you want to be technical, paperboy at age 13. Talk about jobs that don’t exist anymore
drinkslinger1974@reddit
First “real”-meaning I didn’t work for my parents- was an amusement park called king’s dominion in Virginia. I worked the food and beverage department. As rotten as that job was, I made some great friends that I still run into on occasion.
dyejob@reddit
My first job that wasn't through a student work program was clerkin' at one of those nasty corner strip mall video rental places with an "adults only" section. We had a huge bottle of hand sanitizer behind the counter that we called the health plan lol
EidolonRook@reddit
United Artists movie theater. Box office; then learned to do whatever else needed doing. Not a bad first job really.
PuzzledKumquat@reddit
I worked at a small music store that sold CDs, cassette tapes, and used DVDs.
theotte7@reddit
I started making sandwiches at a place called Atlanta Bread Company. It was a super small competitive place to panera. This was circa 2005 to 2008. It was wild, the drugs and booze. And opening on a Saturday at 7am.
Moons_of_Moons@reddit
Taco John's
Fast food place kinda like Taco Bell
Upper-Power8532@reddit
Little Caesars
themrsfreeze@reddit
JC Penney’s in the Catalog & Credit Department. It doesn’t exist anymore.
LillyLally13@reddit
Disney Store in the late 90s. At Christmas time. Never worked retail again.
PookieCat415@reddit
Burger King Drive through at age 15.
Seamore_J_Turtle@reddit
My aunt owned her own company, she gave me a job stuffing envelopes and mailing flyers and such.
actvsvibe@reddit
Chuck E. Cheese. I was Chuck E. Cheese.
Dimeskis@reddit
Jewel grocery store. Owned by and connected to an Osco Drug store.
henningknows@reddit
Worked at a bike shot when I was like 14. Assembling bikes and doing tune ups.
imaniluv1@reddit
Wendy’s. I still remember the proper way to assemble a sandwich Red, White, Green
Geoff-Vader@reddit
Reffing little kids (5-8 yr olds) soccer games when I was ~12 or 13. Fortunately I was tall so I looked a little older than I was. But parents still tried to intimidate me.
Synthetics_66@reddit
Forced labor working with my father who was a contractor. 😂
Aside from that, a local hardware store.
pipercatsmom@reddit
Walgreens
Turbowookie79@reddit
I got a job building playgrounds with a family friend. It was awesome, kinda like giant lego.
magpie1138@reddit
Wendy’s
PaperBeneficial@reddit
QuikTrip
SirGothamHatt@reddit
The Big Party which became iParty (later bought out by Party City long after I worked there). I loved getting balloon counter shifts and just filling pre-orders and walk-in orders all day.
davwad2@reddit
Baskin and Robbins.
hvlochs@reddit
Century Theaters
Eric848448@reddit
Washing dishes at a shitty catering hall. Then McDonald’s. Then Office Max. Then Best Buy (which was somehow the worst of them all)
Finneagan@reddit
Ticket/prize redeemer at Dave&Busters
cianne_marie@reddit
Blockbuster Video.
Despite the corporate bullshit, we had such a good time.
FlurpBlurp@reddit
Local video store, but if there had been a bookstore close enough to my house I would have been all about it. Waldens was a part of my family’s Friday night at the mall routine, followed by the arcade and pizza.
mattjf22@reddit
J.C. Penney checking in
Traumagatchi@reddit
Kaybee Toys!
accidentaldeity@reddit
Also at my local mall
Furballprotector@reddit
Did you have to meet a quota on selling preferred reader cards?
Boring_Blood4603@reddit
Mogadore Resevoir Boathouse attendant was my first legitimate taxable job. Before that it was in home child care and a lemonade stand at the county fair.
Important_Chef_4717@reddit
Baskin Robbins 🥀
browns47@reddit
KB Toys. First day was the day after thanksgiving!
John-Beckwith@reddit
I was an assistant manager at a Waldenbooks. RIP free MTG cards.
TehPaintbrushJester@reddit
K-Mart, also extinct 😭😭😭 but I miss Waldenbooks so much more!
Jets237@reddit
Grocery store, but I do d work at the wasp which became an FYE in a mall later in HS
Ok_Percentage5157@reddit
Champs Sports! Three stores down from Waldenbooks, and five stores down from Kay-B-Toys. I spent my break time at both of these stores.
Robbbylight@reddit
Weekends. Flea market at Yonkers Raceway. $60 a day at 14yo.
MeatPopsicle10@reddit
My dad was a film-maker so my first job was as a child voice actor in a film that has an Academy nomination.
But my first real job was Eckerd Drugs in 1999
Auferstehen78@reddit
Waxie maxies record store 1995.
meldiane81@reddit
Working at “mailboxes etc.” which is now a UPS store.
drodenigma@reddit
Cleaning city schools for the summer
TheGirlwThePinkHair@reddit
Blockbuster
Mean_Median_0201@reddit
Circuit City, where service was state of the art. Sold a lot of car stereo equipment back then.
teriKatty@reddit
I worked at a local grocery store. Not going to give the exact name because it’s a security question.
Boone1997@reddit
Eddie Bauer. Started back when they still had display cases with all the knives and binoculars and such.
CaydeTheCat@reddit
Ignoring paper route, working the register at a Burger King.
MrBone66@reddit
At Six Flags Astroworld sweeping trash and emptying trash cans in the hot Texas summer heat for 10 bucks an hour. It was awful, but it’s 17 years old I was rolling in the dough.
Ingonyama70@reddit
A sandwich chain shop named Togo's.
It's how I learned I love pastrami and I HATE hummus
anonymousopottamus@reddit
Worked there from age 15-20 (with a 1 year break at some point). They ran a 2 Big Mac for $2 promo and people would come through the drive thru and order 50 and expect them to be ready in under 5 minutes!
HeyYouTurd@reddit
My first job was so fun! I was 17 and I was a life guard at Blizzard Beach ( water park at Disney) I got paid $8.75 and worked with a bunch of college kids. I was like the only person who was local. Tons of crazy stories.
No_Kaleidoscope9901@reddit
Lifeguard at the local pool. Free drinks, getting tan, hanging with friends, listening to music - it was great.
hellosparkle@reddit
I also worked at Waldenbooks! I loved it, was much better than my first job working at Lerner NY, which you may know now as New York & Company. Working the dressing room sucked.
WhistleTipsGoWooo@reddit
I can smell this store right now. Wait, and what's that book with sketches... 😆
Hoodiebug22@reddit
Cashier at Rally’s
lilisillyme@reddit
Hollywood Video. I still miss it lol
rebelangel@reddit
I was a cashier at a sporting goods store making $6 an hour back when minimum wage was $5.15.
sms168@reddit
I worked for a dry cleaners
NoSleep_Momma@reddit
County Seat at Southpark Mall in Colonial Heights, VA
Vancouverreader80@reddit
Newspaper carrier
UnrecoveredSatellite@reddit
Selling weed outside Walden books.
FurkinLurkin@reddit
Furniture teardown at a reupholster shop
Terrapin3641@reddit
Hostess at Bennigans for $3.55 an hour.
SalvorHardin42@reddit
AIM Mail Center. Found the listing on a college bulletin board.
jn29@reddit
Snyder Drugs in small town Minnesota. I think they're all closed now.
52lovethatjourney43@reddit
Dairy Queen at the mall. $4.25/hr
Invidiana@reddit
MrsKyle18@reddit
Eckerd Drugs before it became CVS
lilecca@reddit
Blimpi Subs at the mall food court.
Kstrong777@reddit
Sam Goody
Top-Rip-5071@reddit
Junior camp counselor at a summer camp. But my first retail job was at Toys R Us.
Equivalent-Grass-262@reddit
Server at a local restaurant. Worked there for 20 years.
triggeron@reddit
VCR repair
neuro_space_explorer@reddit
Hollywood Video, I got unlimited free rentals, which was a dream as a teenager.
datumerrata@reddit
Call center tech support for computers
eastbayted@reddit
Office assistant at a Sunday school
bh0@reddit
I delivered newspapers starting in like middle school.
Deep-Ad4351@reddit
This is just to shout out to my local Waldenbooks that let me read their books in a corner and never bothered me about it ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
crox11215@reddit
Carvel Ice Cream
Tasty-Property-434@reddit
Circuit City!
drtyhppi@reddit
First job was at a mom-and-pop pet store called Main Street Pets. They paid me $4.65/hr, which was $.40 more than minimum wage at the time. I'd walk there after school Mon, Wed and Fri and work about 3-4 hours. They'd always have a list of things for me to do, which basically consisted of cleaning fish tanks, reptile cages and bird cages. I absolutely hated the birds. I'd have to reach in and grab them so I could clean their cage and they'd go nuts. My favorite were the geckos. I'd fill up a sink full of luke-warm water and let them swim while I cleaned their cages. There was also a chameleon there. They kept it in a giant cage and I don't recall having to clean it. It was super cool, though. I remember watching it change colors as it moved around.
thelanai@reddit
Footlocker
dadoomombo@reddit
Busser at TGI Fridays.
Cody-512@reddit
I was 15 and a busboy/dishwasher 10 hrs/week during the school year at a CiCi’s Pizza. I stepped it up to 20/wk in the summer
shadowlarx@reddit
Cart pusher at Walmart.
I made it about a month until they asked me to work on Black Friday.
By myself.
In freezing rain.
Tenchi2020@reddit
Bag boy at Winn dixie
Unique-Ad-9316@reddit
York Steak House.
arcanebrain@reddit
Blockbuster Video was my 1st real job when I was 17. My favorite day was the day that it was super slow and my young manager told me we needed to "test" some of the candy and the choco tacos. She was cool and it was only the 2 of us on shift that day, so we basically chilled all day eating snacks and watching movies.
https://i.redd.it/tt7f2litvq1h1.gif
He-ManOptimustron@reddit
Movie theater
Adventurous_Pin_344@reddit
My first summer job was awesome. Someone decided to fund a few public art projects that would be staffed by teenagers. I was on a team that created a multimedia, touchable mural that was installed in a children's play area at a Health and Human Services.
playfulwarning@reddit
I was a telemarketer who gave surveys. Was a cool job; I worked with other high school and college students. The best part was that we got to pick our schedule and they actually honored it.
dadof364@reddit
Tobacco Farm
NaturalSpecialist5@reddit
Avon for two weeks. If you want to count that as a job, I don't. My first actual job I was 22 and dropped out of college, stupidly. I worked in Kindercare for 6 months. After I got sick of the lead calling a 3 year old Sexy Lexi and nothing was done about it, countless other incidents happened, I left.
FUWS@reddit
Bagging groceries at Martins…Then proceeded to spend all the money at Walden Books, lol.
Walden books was a special place for me as I bought most if not all my comics, magazines and D&D books growing up there.
They had a very good selection of comics for some odd reason. I still somehow managed to have them with me to this day.
shiftdown@reddit
My family owned/owns a machine shop, so from about 11 on I spent my summers building little mechanical parts.
The first job I had on my own was a dish washer at a local restaurant
PopcornSurgeon@reddit
My very first job (4th grade) was a newspaper delivery route. My first teenage retail job was as a clerk at Blockbuster.
HicJacetMelilla@reddit
Perkin’s. They let us raid the bake case every night so that was awesome. But I still have dreams about forgetting to get a table ketchup.
Intelligent-Camera90@reddit
I worked for my dad at his pushcart in Boston Common at 12.
My first job outside of family was McDonald’s, when I was 14. I quit, because they kept trying to schedule me when I had school.
crj84911@reddit
Best Buy. $6.50 an hour. Worked in the media department mostly sorting and organizing cd’s, movies, video games and software.
GigglingHen@reddit
Kroger cashier!
Gonna_do_this_again@reddit
Baskin Robbins. I went to my first day on acid. Made it through the whole day but never went back.
DoctorAvailable6601@reddit
Shoprite
seamore555@reddit
WaldenBooks? That’s a major chain!
badgeragitator@reddit
Stable hand at a private barn 😅 I made $5.45/hr which was more than my friends who worked at fast food or retail made 😅
Ok-Blackberry4813@reddit
Sears
el_pyrata@reddit
Appropriate-Neck-585@reddit
Washing Golf Carts and fetching range balls at the local golf course. South Bay section of L.A., '00, $8.65/hour.
DingoPoutine@reddit
The computer superstore for me.
druscilla333@reddit
Sweet Factory
Im_all_booked@reddit
addiepie2@reddit
A Tanning Salon
throwawayhbgtop81@reddit
PennPIRG. Lasted three weeks.
The PIRGs are terrible employers.
OctagonalPun@reddit
Starbucks was my first real hourly job after tutoring/babysitting/etc and I loved it!
In 1999, Starbucks was an amazing place to work for a young person and the perks were sooo good: mark out drinks, pound of coffee a week, and my store had good relationships with other stores so I’d take shifts at the mall if they needed help every once in a while. The best part cash tips on the week you didn’t get your regular earnings.
CherryPickens@reddit
Worked at the Duty Free Shop at DFW Airport. Wild that I was 16 and working at what was essentially a liquor store.
Reintarnation@reddit
Local amusement park. I loved it.
CharlesBoyle799@reddit
Boy Scout camp
Outside_Wrongdoer340@reddit
Natural Wonders in the mall.
Secure-Ask-9348@reddit
Working as a line cook at a McDonald’s
Ok_Lead_7443@reddit
Fashion Bug
Elegant-Inside5436@reddit
Paper route, age 10-14
Shigglyboo@reddit
A&P. The Atlantic and Pacific tea company. But in the 90’s it was merely a grocery store. And not a very fancy one. I was a cashier. Once we got robbed while I was working there. Guy made off with like $5k in a black Monte Carlo. He held a gun against our security guys neck while he was out putting away shopping carts.
Also there were no cameras. A bunch of stole random things.
Anemones_In__Spades@reddit
Gadzook's clothes in the mall. I was 15 and lied saying I was 16.
This is the actual store I worked at in the late 90's. Bankrupt by 2004.
vr512@reddit
Front of house bakery/cafe. I learned how to sell baked goods! I became good at it. People seem to agree that life is too short not to get the mini flourless chocolate cake.
2gecko1983@reddit
Grocery bagger at a regional chain.
LordNoWhere@reddit
CiCi’s Pizza
justonemoretravesty@reddit
I also worked at Walden and I quit when they started making us ask EVERY customer, if they were a member and made us recite a very specific marketing spiel. I had so many repeat customers, it just seemed ludacris to have to say it. Now every place does this shit. Mindless drones reciting the same corporate bs.... Ugh.... I hate it. I shouldnt need a subscription to shop at your store. Leave me alone.
TrixieBastard@reddit
I quit Target because they started writing us up if we didn't ask if the customer was interested in the Target Red Card. As a cashier, I was the last person they would interact with during their shopping trip. I was not willing to make the interaction irritating, especially since they had likely been pestered by salesfloor employees asking the same thing.
The manager didn't like that answer, so I quit and they lost their fastest cashier and an employee that had cross-trained into several departments. 🤷♀️
Fuck store credit cards.
Lucky_Louch@reddit
Dishwasher at an Italian resturant first, then they moved me out to the smoothie cart in a very busy outdoor shopping center in North Conway NH which was wild because it was all cash and I would get swarmed by hornets/bees daily due to the sweet shit I was selling.
Then it was Applebees.. So long ago they had a smoking section and I fucking hated clearing tables with butts and ashes all over the table. whole restaurant stank because the smoking section was blocked off by a 1 foot partition lol.
False-Cookie3379@reddit
Sonic carhop. I was able to roller skate while serving. I lived in a small town so it was either that or working at the gas station. My parents wouldn’t let me drive 45 minutes to the mall for a fun job.
Deep-Interest9947@reddit
It wasn’t my first job, but my first chain job was planet Hollywood.
RepresentativeNo2187@reddit
Hostess. The host stand/entrance was by the bar aka the smoking section. A majority of the young staff smoked too.
properdhole@reddit
Crown books lol
MaggyMay14@reddit
Borders :)
MsT6622@reddit
Borders Books in LA
Andi_Lou_Who@reddit
Not sure if it counts bc I quit after 2 shifts. It was at a football stadium in the UK serving food to fans at half time when I was 16. It was miserable. The next job I had is the one I really count as a first job and it was in a DIY store. I loved it!
non_descriptusername@reddit
Groundskeeper at the local water park, Water World, Northwest Denver area.
For a 14 year old getting paid minimum wage, working around people in swimsuits AND getting free park admission during off time...was PEAK!
thesnark1sloth@reddit
Crown Books, so similar to your experience.
ButterscotchAware402@reddit
My first job was as a camp counselor. My first real job was at the Eckerd 1-hour photo lab.
cbih@reddit
The worst run McDonald's ever
RunAwayBeerTruk@reddit
First paid gig was umpiring little league and girls softball games. To this day my family still brings up the time after a game one of the players came into the concession stand where I was, and threw his entire drink on me. Kid then jumped in his family car for a quick get away. I found it funny then and still find it amusing today, lol.
CokBlockinWinger@reddit
Local machine shop had an open position for a “garage sweep”. I was 13 and got the job. He showed me how to fix small engines.
TrixieBastard@reddit
Getting an education while getting paid? That's a sweet deal!
svenner2020@reddit
Paper boy, then McD's.
nooks-n-crannies@reddit
I started as a paperboy at 11 years old. By 14 I was washing dishes in the summer at my family's restaurant
VauxhallandI@reddit
TCBY
i--make--lists@reddit
AV/Periodicals/Reference Page at the local public library. I loved it.
nitrot150@reddit
Grocery bagger at Albertsons, $4/hr
Blackberry-Constant@reddit
A combo Dairy Queen/ Orange Julius at the local mall - I was 14
tinglep@reddit
ShopRite. I actually checked out the first customer at the location (new supermarket was built). Went through weeks of training and did computer bagging games to show we knew how to do it. Learned the cash register and everything all in a little rented spot next door. Two weeks before they sent us to a neighboring store to follow their employees. Then our opening day a bunch of their workers came to help us out. I was on Express Checkout. The (I think 🤔) 4th customer to walk in the door but first customer to ever check out. Got his picture taken with me. He had a bunch of bananas (4011), a bag of ice and a container of Cheez Whiz. From then on whenever he came into the store, he and I jokingly referred to each other as Mr Cheez Whiz.
inexplicably_dull@reddit
Pizza cook and delivery. Did that in high school and through college.
owlthebeer97@reddit
Barnes and Noble Cafe!
Scrapla1@reddit
Loved visiting Walden books with my dad. There was always a table out front with Dianetics and Communion books on display.
Effective-Ladder9459@reddit
I see your Waldenbooks and raise you Borders Books, Music And Café.
YleKay@reddit
Lumberjack (a Lumber/Hardware store)
There were a couple of them in my area but they got wiped out by Home Depot.
However, I was only paid in high school credits…
My first real paying job was a store that sold music instruments. A mom & pop type of store before Guitar Center saturated the market.
Pretend-Ad-9504@reddit
Local Movie rental store called “RENT-A-FLICK”. Our t-shirts were printed with the L and I too close together, so it looked like “RENT-A-FUCK”. Was a great time for all.
thoughtfractals85@reddit
Mowing and landscaping on 300 acres of a residential campus for troubled teens (no they didnt try to keep me lol). It's was all ponds and nature and I only saw my boss on modays. I hated it at the time, it was hard, hot work. I'd give anything ro have that job back now that I'm older.
seymourscagnetti420@reddit
Regional chain department store
tittytwisterz@reddit
Albertsons
Hossflex@reddit
Target used to have their own cafe. Don’t remember if it had a name. Served burgers and chicken fingers. Worked the grill at that.
TrixieBastard@reddit
It wasn't my first job, but I did a couple of years as a cashier at Target. I also cross-trained into softlines, Food Avenue, service desk, electronics, and jewelry. Service Desk was surprisingly the best (they always scheduled me with two of my friends, so we always had a good time while also doing a good job), but Food Ave was the runner-up. It was pretty fun back there, all things considered
TravisVZ@reddit
TIL my favorite local bookstore as a kid was actually a chain, and I don't know how I feel about that...
whyiwhat@reddit
In high school I worked at a shop that sold frozen yogurt, cookies, and candy. We would do trades with restaurants around us, like Panda Express and Wendy’s. Like, they would give us a plate of orange chicken and fried rice and we’d give them a sundae. And of course it was the companies who were paying, not us.
Cuenta_de_preguntas@reddit
Target but my SECOND job was Camelot the music store, in a mall. I remember restocking cassette tapes. I miss those days.
HumanTelevision@reddit
Anchor Blue
mickeltee@reddit
Washing dishes at a little Italian restaurant.
GreyGhost878@reddit
Mine was bussing tables at a little Italian restaurant. I enjoyed it and was good at it.
BleachedSweetFlower@reddit
Auntie Anne's in a mall that is now dead
EnvironmentalDot127@reddit
My favorite childhood book store!!
sandglider@reddit
Waldenbooks was my first at 16. I hated selling that f-ing Preferred Reader Card.
tettoffensive@reddit
Ace Hardware. The interview was “do you know what a nut and a bolt are”
ghostofmontro@reddit
Caldor
Atillion@reddit
Santa's Land. A Christmas themed amusement park in Cherokee NC that could hire 14 year olds because it was on federal land.
Fuck. I've been working for 32 years now 😞
LemonSkye@reddit
Helping kids do arts and crafts at a summer daycamp.
Eziekiel23_20@reddit
First W2 was from Pizza Hut.
genesimmonstongue415@reddit
Swim club owned by an insane Christian family that violated dozens of OSHA rules.
Pre-season set up. Grounds & landscaping. Cleaning pools with acid. Snack bar attendant. Parking lot director on crowded weekends.
Year 2000. Age 14. For $5.15 / hour. New Jersey.
It fuckin' sucked. But I learned more about life & working & personalities & discipline & the value of a dollar there ... than I learned in 80% of my high school & college education.
So I came out better, not because of that dump, but in spite of it.
eaglewatch1945@reddit
Got my Transformers comic books from Walden. Paid for with my paperboy tips.
Capn_Yoaz@reddit
Clerk at my parent’s video store.
throwitallaway@reddit
Working for my wrestling coach who was a landscaper. Laying sod sucks, even when you're in wrestling shape.
pixeequeen84@reddit
I would have loved to work at a bookstore! My first actual job was at our local minor league baseball stadium as a prep cook. It was super gross and I wouldn't eat anything there that didn't come prepackaged. Before that I did a ton of babysitting and had several families I sat for regularly.
North_Hawk958@reddit
Picking rocks from farm fields for a summer.
SoIcanSayHowIfeel@reddit
CompUSA
schadenfrau@reddit
Gloria Jean’s Coffee in the mall!
RandyArgonianButler@reddit
FYI: This is a common security question.
Knickholeass@reddit
Target, cause it was about a 10 minute walk to get there. Made a whole ass $6.25 when I started.
texan01@reddit
My local TV repair shop, but that lasted 3 days before he realized he needed someone who could drive. I was 15.
After that was Chief Auto Parts.
TrixieBastard@reddit
Working as a shop assistant at a tiny little screenprinting shop. I swept, cleaned screens, folded shirts straight off of the dryer (I had asbestos fingertips after a few weeks of that because those shirts were HOT), refilled the ink tubs and made sure they were in order, made sure the soda fridge was stocked, emptied the trash, that sort of thing. It was pretty cool to 14yo me, and the owner was SUCH a nice guy. Couldn't have asked for a better person to have as my first boss!
SinisterDuck6114@reddit
Crumbtinies@reddit
Joann Fabrics. RIP.
Thliz325@reddit
Filene’s. The palisades mall had just opened and everything felt so nice and new. I had a family member working there so at 14 I could start working, though just as a “fluffer and a folder”. You could only work on the registers at 16, so I ran clothes out of the dressing room and folded inventory. Really learned how gross people can be in dressing rooms
Bromide_detector@reddit
Cineplex Odeon. We'd trade movie tickets for food all over town. Fashion the concession ropes into a wrestling ring during shows when it was slow. Midnight showings and invite all your friends. Great times.
genesimmonstongue415@reddit
Swim club owned by an insane Christian family that violated dozens of OSHA rules.
Pre-season set up. Grounds & landscaping. Cleaning pools with acid. Snack bar attendant. Parking lot director on crowded weekends.
Year 2000. Age 14. For $5.15 / hour. New Jersey.
It fuckin' sucked. But I learned more about life & working & personalities & discipline & the value of a dollar there ... than I learned in 80% of my high school & college education.
So I came out better, not because of that dump, but in spite of that dump.
Wild-Drag1930@reddit
Subway
MissAdorkable2@reddit
Borders Books and Music (May they rest in peace)
fromthedarqwaves@reddit
Bus boy at a Japanese steakhouse. I got the job because I was taking Japanese in High School and thought maybe I could learn Japanese that way. Turns out most of the staff was Vietnamese, no one was Japanese. But interestingly there was someone from Myanmar who could speak Japanese.
ECSJack@reddit
Pizza Hut & Blockbuster, with a side of youth sports refereeing and lifeguarding.
sarithe@reddit
I used to help my stepdad out at his mechanic shop doing oil changes and such when I was 13-15.
My first "real" job (as in W2, paying taxes, clocking in and out, etc) was at Wendy's. It was awful and I quit after less than a month. Went from there to a local diner as a dishwasher/general cleaning guy.
jgio199@reddit
Mervyn’s home section. I used to prefer doing freight when the trucks would come in. I was 18; still very close with three other girls I met there 💓.
Zealousideal_Job5986@reddit
Hallmark shop in a mall, the mall has since been demolished and now being rebuilt for more apartment living... 😟
TheConsoleGeek@reddit
Kohl’s Department store as a truck unloader.
schwing710@reddit
Video store clerk. An independent store. Got to play pretty much whatever movies I wanted in the store. Lots of old creeps stopped in to rent porn tapes.
uncle-sensei@reddit
HEB. Went from a bagger to a cashier to dairy department. Most fun was drinking chocolate milk right before expiration, doing whippets with damaged whip cream cans and creating milk crate forts to nap in for about 30 minutes or so. Will never forget the universal produce code for bananas which is 4011.
1ConsiderateAsshole@reddit
Usher at a movie theater. Not only was it four screens but it was a daiquiri spot. I was fifteen and worked with people from my age up to around 22. The projection room upstairs was open and the person running it could easily access everything. He had a console TV, a Sega Genesis, and a big couch. Such a fun time. Also we were responsible for changing the movie information on the sign next to a busy road. We’d climb a ladder and swing the long arm pole. I couldn’t imaging 15 and 16 year olds doing all the things we did.
crazycatlady331@reddit
At 15, I worked as a day camp counselor. Was babysitting a lot before then.
At 16-17, I worked concession at a movie theater. Got to see pretty much any movie I wanted for free. But I came home with every fiber on my clothing (uniform) smelling like popcorn. To this day, I no longer like the smell of popcorn.
Inner-One-5286@reddit
Pre 16, umpiring and running scoreboard for basketball in the local church league and babysitting
Once 16, lifeguard at public pool. Made numerous rescues jumping off stand, including some hat tricks (3 rescues in 1 day) and a double double (2 double rescues in a weekend-usually one kid starting to struggle so they grab the thing closest to them, another kid who could hold themselves up but not 2 at the same time).
besleysfw@reddit
I worked on campus in college as a computer lab tech. My next job was at a Video Game Arcade. That was an amazing job that I lovex
iliumada@reddit
I made $5.10 and hour, but got a $.06 raise after 6 months. We had sales quotas with zero compensation benefits.
RoseRedVelvet@reddit
A locally owned movie & video game store. Was a really fun job for a high school kid and kindled my love of both movies and games
Intelligent_Pass2540@reddit
Hot Topic Last few years of high school 99, 2000, 2001. It was A TIME!
WritingNerdy@reddit
the Gap! I was a denim expert lmao
somekindofride@reddit
Grocery bagger at Albertson’s. Would love to”gather carts” unsupervised in the parking lot and go missing for periods of time.
Pierce-Avenue@reddit
Best fried chicken in the game
Drslappybags@reddit
A neighborhood pizza joint around the corner from my house. It was awesome.
Relevant_Outside2781@reddit
IT WAS WORKING AT FUCKING WALDENBOOKS!!!! 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
Doesitmatter98765@reddit
Pizza Hut at 15 where I got worked until well after midnight on school nights & sexually harassed by my 30-something boss nonstop.
Msbartokomous@reddit
Gift wrapper for a department store
Ill-Percentage-3276@reddit
My technical first short lived job was working at an after school daycare program at my old elementary school when I was 14 (when I realized I do not like other people's children lol).
My first "real" job was Sears in the shoe section...working for commission.
Adios_Moonsynth@reddit
Quizno’s.
Our local mall had the proper building, individual standalone buildings (one was a movie theater I saw Jurassic Park and Lion King in, and then it became a 24 Hour Fitness), and two strip malls on the circumference of “the mall”. Our town’s Quizno’s and Chipotle opened at the same time. I remember the manager at Chipotle had a crush on my trainer and would always bring us free chips to win points with him.
VikDamnedLee@reddit
I was a garbage man at a Renaissance Faire. I had to wear a costume and talk in an accent.
have1dog@reddit
Detasseling corn was my first summer job at 13. My first regular job at 16 was working the Grill/dishwasher at Dairy Queen.
Timely-Ability-6521@reddit
Ride operator at a rinky dink local water park. It did great business for awhile but it is now abandoned.
Pierce-Avenue@reddit
Sweet Factory — hell is organizing jelly beans by color bean by bean when kids mix them up
Electrical_Wonder596@reddit
Quizno’s
VincentMac1984@reddit
Construction Labor
EnlightenedDragon@reddit
Still the most fun I've ever had at a job.
HopelessMagic@reddit
johnnycat75@reddit
Zsirhcz1981@reddit
Order picker in a warehouse.
SmellTheRoses78@reddit
Worked at the local movie theater.
originalbrowncoat@reddit
Same here, best job ever!
SmellTheRoses78@reddit
Free movies and you can take the leftover popcorn home. Score! Also I didn’t pay to get in for a good six months after I quit.
big_king_swinging@reddit
Walking the streets carrying a large pile of newspapers (to hand out as samples) knocking on doors to sell people a local newspaper subscription — in the hot ass humid heat that only a northeast summer can provide.
I was 13 years old and paid $5/hour (cash under the table ofc) And I would get paid a “bonus” of $20 for the day if I sold over a certain amount of subscriptions.
It sucked. And I got heat stroke one time and nearly passed out on some ladies porch. She had to practically carry me inside and hydrate me until I wasn’t delirious.
No cell phones at that time, so our 20 something crew leader who would drive us around and drop us off in neighborhoods was none the wiser, until I recovered enough to go meet him at the pickup point. He barely seemed to care lol 😂 I quit that job after one summer.
The following year — at 14 — I got an under the table gig at a local Italian restaurant as a dishwasher. I was paid $5/hr cash there too. After a year I got promoted to “bus boy” and in addition to the $5/hr cash I also got tipped out by the servers and a free pizza at the end of the night.
I worked that job right up until I could legally work at 16, and then went and worked at McDonald’s at the food court in the mall.
Moral of the story? I was a poor kid and starting working at way too young of an age. I’m happy my kids don’t have to do the same as I did.
Opening-Pitch@reddit
15 years old. $3.75 an hour.
ResurgentClusterfuck@reddit
A wholesaler in Arkansas who didn't check my ID. Same goes for the motel i cleaned rooms for. People are f'n disgusting in motels
NGinuity@reddit
Dishwasher at an old Holiday Inn. I actually stayed there for 4 years until I was 19 and became a line cook.
Peelboy@reddit
Digging ditches, mowing lawns, weeding, tree trimming, sprinkler repair and anything else people would pay me to do, I started at 13 and was doing it full time by 16, this paid for my first house.
Waughwaughwaugh@reddit
I worked at a B.Dalton for awhile! I liked that job but left it when I went to school.
My first job was working at a plant nursery because my mom worked there. I planted and watered and sometimes did the register, I was about 14.
In high school and early college I worked at a candy store/coffee shop. Loved loved loved that job, we made gift baskets and I could eat and drink whatever I wanted while I was working. I was so sad when they closed (the owner retired and decided to close the store instead of selling it).
Clean_Usual434@reddit
Fast food at 15
CorkFado@reddit
Dishwasher in a family-owned Chinese restaurant. Later became my brother’s first job as well.
tigremycat@reddit
Greco pizza
drainbamage1011@reddit
Unofficially, mowing grass for family.
First real job was working concessions at an outdoor concert venue. I thought I'd be getting paid to hear lots of live music...lol. More like standing in a hot kitchen in the dead of summer making pretzels for drunk people, and couldn't even hear the show.
Colonial13@reddit
My first W2 job was also a Waldenbooks
K2sX@reddit
Great American Cookie Co, briefly. Followed by a longer stint at Annie Ann's. Same mall.
therobotscott@reddit
Mowing lawns. My first W-2 jobs was making pizzas at a local pizza chain. It sucked.
SplakyD@reddit
As a lifeguard at Point Mallard water park in Decatur, Alabama in the summer of '99.
Express-Cow190@reddit
Pickle factory was my second job. First job is between me and my email password reset.
phalse21@reddit
One hour photo shop. Definitely saw some stuff I wasn't prepared for as a 15 year old.
UncleanlyCleric@reddit
Suncoast Video. I never could understand people that would pay thousands of dollars just to have a VHS tape two months earlier than other people.
Appropriate_Term4499@reddit
The Body Shop

johnvalley86@reddit
Lake side gas station attendant. Dipping out minnows and selling beer and cigarettes at 14 years old.
TheLastBoat@reddit
Pathmark
Just_Another_AI@reddit
Wearing a Keebler elf costume at grocery store grand openings. It wasn't a fuul tine job, but $100 cash for 6 hours work a few days a month, it was a pretty good gig
aimsemma@reddit
Local mom and pop deli making sandwiches (hoagies)/salads and running the fryer. Never did make it up to the cheesesteaks. Cleaning the bain Marie was a bitch!
Junior-View7216@reddit
Jiffy Lube. What a hot summer that was.
Killjoykarl10@reddit
Vinny’s restaurante Holden ma
Lord-Curriculum@reddit
Cineplex Odeon. 1995.
ChristyLovesGuitars@reddit
Technically, I was a papergirl. But my first ‘real’ job was at Bob Evan’s, just bussing tables.
JazzlikeAd1555@reddit
Discovery Zone
rthander13@reddit
Oldest daughter AND granddaughter in a small town meant I was the youngest on-call babysitter for all the families I went to church with (including the pastor). I MADE BANK.
GreenZebra23@reddit
Fedex, sorting boxes in the hub. It was frustrating and boring, so good preparation for the rest of my working life
Pezhead82@reddit
Child model (although not sure I had a lot of agency in choosing that), then working for my mom’s small business, I desperately wanted a cool summer job at the Mall, but ended with a job giving local tours instead. Best paying was a summer nanny gig the summer I got my license - kids were sweet, parents were drunks but funny and mostly down to earth and I got a great tan that summer!
NoIncrease299@reddit
Egghead Computer
DBE113301@reddit
Off of the farm where I grew up (since working for your old man technically isn't a job), my first real job was driving a spray (herbicides) truck for the county.
draculawater@reddit
Busser, then dishwasher at a local restaurant.
FullPrice4LatePizza@reddit
Mr Driving Range Ball Picker-Upper.
snwbrdngtr@reddit
Mrs Fields. Debbie Fields herself came to our shop once. What a weird lady to meet at like 16-17.
Awkwardpanda75@reddit
My first was Ethan Allen. I was the design managers assistant (glorified cleaning lady). It was at a really tough time in my young life; my boss and her husband took me under their wing and taught me work ethic.
blixxic@reddit
Similar I guess, but I lived in a rural area so my first job was at at antique and collectible local book store. A lot of my job was cleaning old books to get them ready to sell in the store.
CelticSith@reddit
Spencer’s Gifts, lol
Most_Beyond9318@reddit
Pizza Hut, at a delivery only location. I was in charge of taking orders over the phone.
Skipper0463@reddit
Grocery store. I worked in the produce section but they fired me from that and put me in bagging and cart return, then fired me from that too.
Smoky1279@reddit
Umpiring youth softball when I was 13. $24 for two and a half hours of work.
Cephalopod_Dropbear@reddit
Hollywood Video! Greatest job ever. Watch movies, play video games and talk to people about movies and video games.
qualityskootchtime@reddit
The Vans store
thisismynewnewacct@reddit
Cart boy/bagger at Meijer. Had a ton of fun in retrospect but at the time I hated it. Didn’t help that the parking lot was re-blacktopped that year and got as the devil’s taint.
deep_blue_au@reddit
A head shop booth at the mall which went out of business a few weeks later
PrttyPussSoupp1@reddit
KFC cashier
sal_pair_of_dice@reddit
United Artists movie theater! Loved it. Such a fun job to have in high school.
myqool@reddit
Kids R' Us
MastersOfNoneShow@reddit
Noodle Kidoodle.
Funny-Dare-3823@reddit
USFS Fire Camp
I grew up in the mountains.
Cutthechitchata-hole@reddit
Local bakery as a server for lunch time and early dinner. The old people LOVED me and they do know how to tip
BiscottiLeading@reddit
Lifeguard in the summer, waitress in winter.
drfinale@reddit
Concession stand at Cinemark
Zealousideal-Till839@reddit
Not including delivering papers, it was at Blockbuster. Not a bad job, if you get past the shitty boss, shitty company, a few shitty coworkers, and the occasional shitty customer.
gnartothecore@reddit
Cashier at Kenny Rogers' Roasters
olduglysweater@reddit
Cold calling for Time Warner; like anyone wanted to be bothered about dumb ol magazine subscriptions around dinner time.
Actual_Appearance246@reddit
Wendy’s
bitwarrior80@reddit
I worked on a horses ranch and Burger King. At 14-15 years old these were the only places I could get work. I lied about my age to get hired at BK, but the manager didn't care. Being a stable hand was a grueling after school job, but it was a lot better than working fast food.
Puzzleheaded_Race_90@reddit
Dish dogging at sonny's. I started as a dishwasher and worked my way up to ceo of getting the fuck out of there
HeywoodJaBlessMe@reddit
Bagged groceries at Albertson's
Hazywater@reddit
My second job, lol
Acrobatic-Giraffe991@reddit
Hostess at Cracker Barrel at age 16.
cupcakesparklies@reddit
Meijer getting carts
kpsi355@reddit
Anyone repping B Dalton Bookseller?
siobhanenator@reddit
McDonald's
Fluid_Change_9647@reddit
Winn Dixie in Crowley, TX as a sacker. It was a fun job, especially at night when the store slowed down and I got hang out with the other kids from my high school at the registers
El_Hefe_Ese@reddit
Bus boy
NPC261939@reddit
Working in a mower shop doing small engine repair.
chicacherrie82@reddit
Auntie Anne's
PackageNorth8984@reddit
TrashCautious4762@reddit
Independent 1 hour photo shop.
zerocool_23@reddit
Bike shop! I knew nothing about bikes but had a friend that worked there. One night guy came in to look at a 5k bike. He was ready to buy just wanted one last test ride. Me and my manager spent 30 minutes trying to figure out how to put air in the damn tires. The manager that was there that night didn’t know anything about bikes either.
Long story short the customer knew how to put air in the entire time just thought it was funny to watch us try to figure it out.
Shortly after I got a new job at a family owned bookstore then Barnes and Noble then health food store. The health food story was amazing. This was before it was cool to eat healthy. It was privately owned and the managers were awesome. When I closed we would all go on the roof at the end of the night and get super stoned.
Made a lot of money selling weed to people that worked at the health food store. Before I left there I was basically selling to the entire company including managers and owners. Free food and good people. I was very lucky growing up! Well besides getting my parents house raided but that is a different story.
Kisutra@reddit
Market Basket
blackcurrents78@reddit
Dishwasher at Noble Romans Pizza
kamshaft11975@reddit
McDonald’s in ‘96. Then Pizza Hut, Rio Bravo and On the Border.
CorgiMonsoon@reddit
Taco Bell
MxMicahDeschain@reddit
Mattress warehouse at 15. Think I was the only employee who'd yet to do time. Still haven't, luckily.
mrtoddw@reddit
Corn detasseling
dumbass_sempervirens@reddit
Some independent shoe store.
Top-Pudding-4139@reddit
Babysitting at 12. Full time even over the summers. Didn't think I wanted kids when I grew up - that was a good way to confirm I didn't and don't 😂
I was a great babysitter though. I'm good at working even if I hate my job.
Murderbot_420@reddit
Paper route.
Galen_415@reddit
Mowing lawns
Sure-Independent5887@reddit
I worked at Rubios restaurant as a cashier lol
therealpopkiller@reddit
I love Rubios. They’ve disappeared from LA, but I was in Pomona a few weeks ago and they have one. I could eat a dozen of those fish tacos
Sure-Independent5887@reddit
Yes I LOOOOVE those fish tacos with extra white sauce. Yum
Re1deam1@reddit
ToysR us for the video game discounts!!!
Anyone-9451@reddit
Just-a-buck
HIs4HotSauce@reddit
aaronagee@reddit
At a chocolate factory in Lancashire. Good stuff, you weren’t supposed to eat any, but we all did…
therealpopkiller@reddit
McDonald’s. Lasted 6 mos somehow
WhosYourPadre79@reddit
Selling newspaper subscriptions door to door. Hated it
Extra-Blueberry-4320@reddit
Lucky. I wanted to work there but I didn’t have a car to get to the mall. So I was stuck working at McDonald’s because I could ride my bike to get to work. After working there, it’s been hard to eat there anymore. I can’t believe how much they are charging for powdered eggs and pre-frozen burger patties that are mostly fat and gristle.
Funkopedia@reddit
It was either paperboy for a neighborhood rag, or odd jobs via a city sponsored service called RENT-A-KID. I can't recall in which order i did those.
tillyspeed81@reddit
OC Register Paperboy
barefootincozumel@reddit
My dad used to take me here on pay day to pick out a new book when I was younger. Memory unlocked
59apache01@reddit
Working in a warehouse. Loved the exercise I got doing it.
senorgonzo2@reddit
Working at sand and gravel company
Other-Journalist4313@reddit
Old Country Buffet
Particular-Crew5978@reddit
Dog grooming
Seven19td@reddit
Hanging donation bags on doors for a thrift store
Substantial_Rise3318@reddit
The University Law Library had termites. I moved a bunch of books so they could treat/exterminate them
DarksunDaFirst@reddit
On an official payroll?
Super Fresh grocery store.
Under the table? Yard worker for several people in my neighborhood plus did some farm hand stuff for the farm at the at of my block (our neighborhood’s west edge ended at farmland).
Hollybaby5@reddit
Boston Market
Weak_Radish966@reddit
Mowing relative’s yards.
TOOL-FAN@reddit
KFC / Taco Bell
Metamorphica_0226@reddit
Jamba juice
Fun_Skirt8220@reddit
Me too!