First Jobs

Do you remember your first "real" job? I do. It was working for my dad at his clothing store in the afternoons after school and all day on Saturdays. I was all of 14 years old at the time but he needed the help and I wanted the money. He paid me very well, but I also sat there by myself a lot of the time waiting for customers to come in.

We were talking with friends the other night about our kids first jobs and what they brought to us with those jobs. It was amazing what my kids have done and they have always been good workers. And they always managed to find some place to work that had some nice side benefits.

Aaron's first job was at Togo's. It was within walking distance from the house and they were willing to hiring him at 15, so it worked. He didn't get much in freebies from this place though. Brenna's first job was at Sports Cutters as a receptionist and she got Ron free hair cuts, so that was nice. Both kids got their first jobs to help pay for their Europe trip they took with the band over the summer.

Aaron's next job was at Paradise Bakery when the Chandler Mall first opened. He and his best friend at the time, Seth, worked together and I have a feeling they got into some trouble together. They usually worked the closing shift, since that's what high school kids do, but there was a huge benefit to closing. Any cookies that were left over they could bring home or throw them out. Do I need to tell you how much weight we all gained during the time he worked here?

Brenna worked at Pizza Hut next and she got to have a free medium pizza at the end of every shift. This was the time we were all on the Adkin's diet, so she would make these huge meat, cheese and veggie pizza's that were to die for. Then we would just pick off the toppings and throw the crust away. This totally ruined me for pizza for years though. The pizza's she made were sooooo good! And we all lost quite a bit of weight on that diet!

When Aaron got tired of Paradise, he landed at Dairy Queen. Do you see a pattern here? We were slowly eating out way thru all the local fast food joints! This time he got to bring ice cream home, but not really that often. Aaron was at ASU during part of the time he worked at DQ, so not as many closing shift.

This was the job that had Aaron changing his major. He worked for Mesa Airlines, which covered the commuter flights for American West/US Airways. He was a gate agent, if you can believe that. We got some free flight benefits, but it was always so hard to get on a plane, we didn't use them very much. At the time he started he was still an engineering major and the 4th semester of Calculus was kicking his butt. Engineering just wasn't happening for him but he really enjoyed the airport environment and wouldn't you know that ASU was starting a new major, Airport Managment. And the rest is history as he graduated and now works for the FAA.

Brenna has been at Tempe St Lukes Hospital in one area or another for 3 years now. In May she will be graduating with her BSN and really wants to be a trauma nurse. The problem is that nobody will hire new grads without experience. But how are they supposed to get experience if they can't get hired? And what happened to the shortage of nurses that everyone was screaming about? It's frustrating to me as now she is considering joining the Navy and I'm not so sure that would be my dream for her. But I also know I have to keep my mouth shut and let her make her own choices. This is the part about being a parent that I really hate! Do you think I could just convince her to go and make pizza's again?