OT: What was your first job as a teenager?

[Hoophound]

Christmas tree groomer. True story.

 

[TRest]

A paper route was big money when I was a kid. I had a friend who sold his for $200 (big money in the 70s). Best time to buy a route was January, after the seller got his Christmas tips.

My brother bought an existing route from a neighborhood kid who aged out of it, they were highly prized and lobbying started months before. I think the going rate (early 70's) was a buck a house. I have no idea if the papers knew the carriers were selling the rights.

 

[Puparoni]

Thought it was on Hartford Road? We used to go there all the time. Was there another one in Manchester? The good old days when Dairy Queen was everywhere.

Yes, there were two. The one on Broad Street was near the intersection with Middle Tpke

 

[HCCForever]

I would shovel snow or cut grass for money although my parents wouldn’t let us take money from the widow next store. When I was about 14 I had both Courant and Hartford Times route. Half of the routes overlapped which made collecting easier but cut down on tips. When I turned 16 I was a service clerk at ShopRite making $2.15 an hour. I would sometimes work 8AM until 10PM on Saturdays.

 

[QDOG5]

First job - camp counselor
Worst job - working at KFC
Best job - after school I was delivering prescription drugs to elderly folks around town
Last job before entering the real world - security guard at GHO in 1984

 

[Flipside]

Being a paperboy back in the day was basically a mix of mob boss and intelligence officer. You knew everything—who was behind on bills, who just got a new car, who was vacationing based on the mail pile-up and the temporarily suspended delivery request. You overheard stuff through screen doors, spotted late-night guests sneaking out in the morning, and if you kept your mouth shut? Boom—holiday bonus. Respect was earned, not given. Cross me, and your Sunday Courant might just land in the puddle. We weren’t just slinging papers—we were running the neighborhood intel network with spokes, ink, and silence.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

I was a paperboy at 8-14 I inherited the route from my brother he was a highly motivated super paperboy to me it was spending money .
I didn’t work to much in HS as I played football, Basketball, and Baseball
I helped my dad doing electrical work summers when I got older . That convinced me to go to college . Snaking BX through walls in old houses in hot weather wasn’t something I enjoyed
I had many jobs including construction during college . In those days you could make enough during the summer to pay at least one semester.
For you youngsters BX was a cable protected by a flexible metal casing. . It could be heavy in the larger gauges .
It was replaced by Romex a plastic.casing But my Dad was old school .

 

[fatlucy]

I started working construction as a laborer when I was 13. Worked my way up to coffee boy, gopher, mason and carpenters apprentice. Those were fun days. I’m now in my 29th year of real estate and construction, post UConn grad. That’s a total of 41 years. What an industry.

 

[coachn]

Newspaper routes as a pre-teen and teenager and some grass cutting and snow shoveling.
Llll
Hartford Courant paper route in the morning and Journal Inquirer in the afternoon.

Once I turned 16 it was lifeguard and

Newspaper routes as a pre-teen and teenager and some grass cutting and snow shoveling.

Hartford Courant paper route in the morning and Journal Inquirer in the afternoon.

Once I turned 16 it was lifeguard and swim instructor.

 

[Husky1972]

New Howard Johnson's in Mystic, cleaning bathroom/toilets before morning open, then washing dishes the rest of the shift. Soon moved to summer job selling lobsters and clams @ Abbott's in Noank.

 

[Rich]

Pushing carts in the parking lot of Stop and Shop.
Then, working the counter and drive-through at McDonald's
Then, working for my uncle on one of his paving crews-in the middle of the Summer.

 

[coachn]

Hartford Courant carrier and mowed lawns in Bloomfield..Worked at First National and played sports in high school. While at Springfield College worked Park and Rec Htfd. Weth.and Blmfd. post office during holidays.
Teacher Coach East Granby 35 years won 400 games in 3 varsity sports at smallest high school in Ct..
Retired and at age 88 and still still active including golf.
Big follower of UConn football, basketball and baseball.

 

[zmart]

At 13 rode my bike to Colchester to work at Saul Schmil's chicken farm. Fed chickens, collected eggs and shoveled crap for 90 cents an hour. Liked it!

 

[UCLJ0211]

Long time ago, I guess before health standards for restaurants, I worked at a Dunkin’ My daily tasks were as a porter(cleaning toilets and mopping floors) followed by. a donut finisher( filling and sugaring them)

To this day, I will never step foot in a Dunkin’ after someone opened my oatmeal pouch with their mouth about 15 years ago.

 

[UCONNJACK]

My first job was in 8th grade, delivering the weekly "Rare Reminder" newspaper where people sell their used junk. I got paid $0.01 per paper and had 4 streets on my route. Probably worked out to $3.00 a week.

When I turned 16, I worked at Burger King on the fryalator. Then got "promoted" to the drive thru window. Smoked a lot of weed with the cooks out back in those days.

Caddied at 15 years old at Silver Springs Country Club in Ridgefield. At 16 I delivered the New York Sunday Times in Ridgefield and Waccabuc, New York. Start time was 5:00 am but the tips were good.

 

[AidanFan20]

Student librarian for the county library system. Shelved, checked out books, etc.

 

[ThetaZoo]

Thought it was on Hartford Road? We used to go there all the time. Was there another one in Manchester? The good old days when Dairy Queen was everywhere.

It was on Hartford Rd but the original one (early '60's and pre-I-384) was near the corner of the former Bridge St and Hartford Rd. It was ice cream only. My father would take us there after Little League games.

 

[GruntCakes]

First job was pumping gas at the Getty Station in center of Simsbury. I was 16. Inherited job from my older brother. I worked there part time for several years. In those days you would be running out to the island, pumping the gas, washing the windshields, checking the oil, etc. This was 1972, getting paid $1.65 an hour. Made a lot of friends, learned a little about working on cars, banked some money. Worked some nights until 9 pm with a NAVY vet who was a sports fan. He would have radio tuned to WTIC AM. Red Sox games in summer, UConn basketball games in winter. Got me started on my long time career as a Huskies fan.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Being a paperboy back in the day was basically a mix of mob boss and intelligence officer. You knew everything—who was behind on bills, who just got a new car, who was vacationing based on the mail pile-up and the temporarily suspended delivery request. You overheard stuff through screen doors, spotted late-night guests sneaking out in the morning, and if you kept your mouth shut? Boom—holiday bonus. Respect was earned, not given. Cross me, and your Sunday Courant might just land in the puddle. We weren’t just slinging papers—we were running the neighborhood intel network with spokes, ink, and silence.

When I was a young youngin' we had some home break-in thefts inbthe neighborhood and the cops nailed the two brothers who had newspapers routes for those exact reasons. They knew who was home during different times and when homes were free for the taking.

 

[Hamms30]

Fish cutter through high school and college and on offdays laborer for my dad and brother in law.

 

[DCT]

My first job was in 8th grade, delivering the weekly "Rare Reminder" newspaper where people sell their used junk. I got paid $0.01 per paper and had 4 streets on my route. Probably worked out to $3.00 a week.

When I turned 16, I worked at Burger King on the fryalator. Then got "promoted" to the drive thru window. Smoked a lot of weed with the cooks out back in those days.

Fish cutter through high school and college and on offdays laborer for my dad and brother in law.

My first job was in 8th grade, delivering the weekly "Rare Reminder" newspaper where people sell their used junk. I got paid $0.01 per paper and had 4 streets on my route. Probably worked out to $3.00 a week.

When I turned 16, I worked at Burger King on the fryalator. Then got "promoted" to the drive thru window. Smoked a lot of weed with the cooks out back in those days.

Delivered Hartford Courant and Hartford Times also picked asparagus then washed dishes Ellington Ridge CC, then worked in Manchester for small kitchen appliance mfg, pumped gas at Gasland then worked in baseball factory

 

[Leebo]

Bagger at Stop & Shop

 

[Imdone]

Pumping gas @ the Mobile station off the Manchester exit on 84.

 

[Edward Sargent]

Besides cutting lawns and shoveling snow I got a job working at a kennel in Norwalk. I wanted to be a veterinarian. Started out cleaning cages and runs and feeding dogs (and a few cats). By the end of the summer I was opening and closing the kennel and got trained to do dog grooming where I gained a healthy disdain for poodles and fear of Dobermans! You haven't lived until you've completely shaved a Newfoundland with a tick infestation. After that summer I worked at Phil Baker's. Busboy, 1st saladman, and dishwasher

 

[Hamms30]

Besides cutting lawns and shoveling snow I got a job working at a kennel in Norwalk. I wanted to be a veterinarian. Started out cleaning cages and runs and feeding dogs (and a few cats). By the end of the summer I was opening and closing the kennel and got trained to do dog grooming where I gained a healthy disdain for poodles and fear of Dobermans! You haven't lived until you've completely shaved a Newfoundland with a tick infestation. After that summer I worked at Phil Baker's. Busboy, 1st saladman, and dishwasher

For some reason reading 1st saladman reminded me of this..

 

[TheShot1990]

Also Hartford Courant carrier and mowed lawns starting at age 11. That's when I learned that 2% of my neighborhood were nasty people. How do you yell at an 11 year old because your paper didn't arrive by 6:30 am? Damn those Sunday papers were friggin heavy. Sometimes my dad would drive me around on Sundays when he saw I was struggling. Then at age 16 worked in an apple orchard climbing the trees and cutting excess growth (suckers as the farmer called them) off the trees. He paid me $1.50 an hour off the books which was much better than being a paper boy. After work we'd take my friend's 125cc Yamaha dirt bike and go blasting around the woods - not sure I've ever had as much fun since.

 

[Excalibur]

Worked for the town senior services department for 2 years starting at 15. Then pro shop at Glastonbury Hills.

 

[uconnblueinky]

My Grandfather's restaurant in Bridgeport called Drumstik Bar B Q on Main Street ( still up and running to this day) . I started when I was 8 and made$ 4.25 an hour . My mother was a manager, sister was a frier , father did rotisserie and I breaded the chicken , liver , potatoes , gizzards and hearts. Good times

 

[Flipside]

When I was a young youngin' we had some home break-in thefts inbthe neighborhood and the cops nailed the two brothers who had newspapers routes for those exact reasons. They knew who was home during different times and when homes were free for the taking.

That's terrible ...

Our routes opened up babysitting, dog sitting, lawn cutting, leaf raking, snow shoveling, housesitting (I think I had keys to just about everyone's house on my route, ha) and other odd job opportunities ... that was the real steal

 

[Dove]

When I was a young youngin' we had some home break-in thefts inbthe neighborhood and the cops nailed the two brothers who had newspapers routes for those exact reasons. They knew who was home during different times and when homes were free for the taking.

The Wet Bandits!!