Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

PearliePoo2

(7,768 posts)
64. My first job in the late 60's at 16 years old was a car hop at an A&W at 29th and Grand, Spokane, WA
Sun Apr 16, 2017, 11:32 AM
Apr 2017

I was a really shy kid and I was terrified and a nervous wreck for my first day at work at a real job!
Pat McGuire, the manager, was this REALLY old guy about 23. But even though he was older than dirt, he WAS kind of cute (dark curly hair and really blue eyes).
He told me he wanted to give me new hire instructions and to follow him to the back of the restaurant. So we're standing by this big group of huge co2 bottles and he's telling all about root beer and how it gets its fizz, when he suddenly opened up the valve on this spare co2 bottle and blasted me right in the face! That scared the crap out of me! He's standing there laughing and I'm horrified in disbelief! He says all the new employees get this treatment!
Now, since I survived that, it was time to learn how to properly scoop hard ice cream. OK, done.
Next up to show him I could make change from that belt coin changer thingy. That was a little difficult, since my math skills sucked (and still do) but I eventually figured it out. The job went OK, I gained confidence daily and I became less shy and even started getting tips now and then.
One day, my boss, Pat said i needed to run an errand and go pick something up (I forget what it was) and to take HIS car!
Wow...ummm, yeah! He had this beautiful, dark blue 1965 Ford Fairlane 500 Coupe. It was a V-8 with bucket seats, fancy chrome wheels, loud exhaust and a radio (KJRB AM 790)! Oh man, I'm in heaven! I knew how to drive but I did NOT yet have a driver's license but he never even asked!
I was so excited I couldn't STAND it, so of course the first thing I did was go by my friend Jan's house and pick her up. Her jaw dropped and she said, "Where did you get this car?" I explained what was going on, that I was on an errand, but first we HAD to go "cruise the drag" and show off!
Down to Riverside Ave. with the windows down, radio blasting the Beach Boys and The Supremes, it just does NOT get any better than this! Finally, I realized I had to get back and returned to the Drive-In a little nervous. Pat, my boss was PISSED! He said he was about to call the police and report me! I apologized, figured I was going to be fired but I told him I HAD to drive around downtown to show off his cool car...the coolest car in the entire town! My explanation must have appealed to his vanity and ego, since he just looked at me for a while and then he asked me if I would go out with him. What?? You mean like on a date? With YOU? "Yeah, with me."
I was totally freaked out and I said I had to ask my mom and dad. Their answer was an emphatic NO WAY!
We never talked about "a date" again, summer was over and I started my senior year in high school that fall.
My next job the following year was working full time at the Spokesman Review Newspaper as a courier in the ad department. I left Spokane, moved to Seattle and my third job was working for AT&T downtown at 3rd and Bell for a few years. I've had a ton of jobs since then and I just recently retired from Washington State Dept. of Transportation. Yay for Unions and PERS-2!
I never saw Pat McGuire again but I'll never forget that car of his. I wish I had it today!















I was hired to be Cinderella at an amusement park. Rhiannon12866 Apr 2017 #1
awesome! 😊 nt steve2470 Apr 2017 #2
It was not a popular job there, standing out in the hot sun in a long dress. Rhiannon12866 Apr 2017 #8
bummer 😒 nt steve2470 Apr 2017 #10
I worked there six summers, eventually got the job driving the train that went through the jungle Rhiannon12866 Apr 2017 #13
good for your boss :) nt steve2470 Apr 2017 #14
He liked me since I was a good sport Rhiannon12866 Apr 2017 #17
it derailed a lot ? Wow.... that's amazing steve2470 Apr 2017 #18
It was an older train (bought used in 1952!) and had mechanical problems Rhiannon12866 Apr 2017 #23
sounds like penny-wise pound foolish management to me steve2470 Apr 2017 #24
I thought it was one of the best jobs, I got to sit down and ride through the woods. Rhiannon12866 Apr 2017 #25
Babysitter. femmocrat Apr 2017 #3
work can be SO much fun when you are a kid steve2470 Apr 2017 #5
I got to see all the movies.... over and over! femmocrat Apr 2017 #11
yay! 🙌 nt steve2470 Apr 2017 #12
I managed a Baskin Robbins store, to pay my way through school Siwsan Apr 2017 #4
free Baskin Robbins for employees ? nt steve2470 Apr 2017 #6
Two scoops a day Siwsan Apr 2017 #20
yum! nt steve2470 Apr 2017 #21
I (along with another kid) worked at a pool hall when I was 16... ret5hd Apr 2017 #7
fun! nt steve2470 Apr 2017 #9
Car Hop blogslut Apr 2017 #15
free food ? nt steve2470 Apr 2017 #16
I honestly can't remember. blogslut Apr 2017 #19
free food was one of the great parts, too bad :/ nt steve2470 Apr 2017 #22
Typing envelopes CountAllVotes Apr 2017 #26
wow that sucked, no pay ?! nt steve2470 Apr 2017 #53
no pay is correct CountAllVotes Apr 2017 #62
Paper route... age 7 or 8. Buckeye_Democrat Apr 2017 #27
bummer your mom was so demanding nt steve2470 Apr 2017 #51
She was wonderful in other ways. Buckeye_Democrat Apr 2017 #56
Your mom sounds kinda like my mom LeftInTX Apr 2017 #58
That's indeed similar. Buckeye_Democrat Apr 2017 #60
Door-to-door newspaper "NOT subscriptions" for... yallerdawg Apr 2017 #28
Neighborhood yard work. Then grocery store (bagging to bathroom maintenance). Life Guard. eom Hoyt Apr 2017 #29
Babysitting Freddie Apr 2017 #30
Dishwasher Hayduke Bomgarte Apr 2017 #31
Ironing. CrispyQ Apr 2017 #32
great stories! nt steve2470 Apr 2017 #54
Baling hay liberal N proud Apr 2017 #33
Comic book store. Can't remember the name. Iggo Apr 2017 #34
why was she pissed ? steve2470 Apr 2017 #55
She was pissed because I took a job that wasn't paying me money. Iggo Apr 2017 #66
oh! nt steve2470 Apr 2017 #67
Other than babysitting my first job was at Dairy Queen TexasBushwhacker Apr 2017 #35
Other than the usual kid stuff (paper routes, mowing lawns, shoveling driveways) Zorro Apr 2017 #36
Stenographer for Steamship Company Lower Manhattan in 1966 HockeyMom Apr 2017 #37
Do you still remember your shorthand? Laffy Kat Apr 2017 #76
At 14 Runningdawg Apr 2017 #38
I was 13, hired as a "nanny" for 3 brats at a resort club in northern lower MI for the summer. catbyte Apr 2017 #39
Working full time at a Midas Muffler factory...making Midas Mufflers.. Stuart G Apr 2017 #40
I worked in restaurants for family from about age 5 and at 16 I worked for Solly Mack Apr 2017 #41
grocery bagger and stocker at a grocery store age 14 rurallib Apr 2017 #42
A paper route, age 14. Aristus Apr 2017 #43
much respect to you, sir steve2470 Apr 2017 #49
That image is a little misleading, I'll grant you. Aristus Apr 2017 #61
Other than baby sitting, in the early and mid... 3catwoman3 Apr 2017 #44
45 cents an hour, wow.... talk about inflation! nt steve2470 Apr 2017 #52
In an interesting full circle kind of way, the last... 3catwoman3 Apr 2017 #65
I babysat when I was 14, but I've got an embarrassing incident: LeftInTX Apr 2017 #45
Stacking loose hay for a neighbor. jack69 Apr 2017 #46
My first job was driving an Ice Cream Truck... GReedDiamond Apr 2017 #47
wow great story, little bastards! nt steve2470 Apr 2017 #50
I think, in retrospect, it was a good thing... GReedDiamond Apr 2017 #68
Sounds like something out of a Cheech and Chong movie!!! LeftInTX Apr 2017 #59
Speaking of Cheech & Chong, I knew a guy - a driver for Georgie's... GReedDiamond Apr 2017 #69
anyone else ? nt steve2470 Apr 2017 #48
Summer job typing in an office northoftheborder Apr 2017 #57
Harvesting hay don't remember my age probably 12 or so. Worked at Holiday doc03 Apr 2017 #63
My first job in the late 60's at 16 years old was a car hop at an A&W at 29th and Grand, Spokane, WA PearliePoo2 Apr 2017 #64
was he disappointed he could not have a date ? steve2470 Apr 2017 #81
Martial arts instructor sakabatou Apr 2017 #70
At the age of 14, shoveling chicken shit for a $1.50 an hour Kaleva Apr 2017 #71
Hot shit. tazkcmo Apr 2017 #79
Sold night crawlers to the local bait shop in early spring. Quietman64 Apr 2017 #72
quite an entrepreneur :) nt steve2470 Apr 2017 #74
Data Entry for Global Fulfillment Services (GFS) JonLP24 Apr 2017 #73
Sandwich maker at the Super Submarine Sandwich Shop.. Laffy Kat Apr 2017 #75
roofing n/t tazkcmo Apr 2017 #77
My first year of college, worked at pizza delivery for one night. Binkie The Clown Apr 2017 #78
Ranch hand. 1965. 15 y.o. Sheep, cattle, hogs, hay. WheelWalker Apr 2017 #80
Elementary School Janitor jberryhill Apr 2017 #82
Bag boy at a local grocery store, nt Broken_Hero Apr 2017 #83
Doing Heavy House Maintenance (Gutters and more) Wolf Frankula Apr 2017 #84
Hey Steve nice topic! retrowire Apr 2017 #85
thanks! nt steve2470 Apr 2017 #90
glass factory in Illinois Skittles Apr 2017 #86
This message was self-deleted by its author steve2470 Apr 2017 #91
Corn detasseler. BluesRunTheGame Apr 2017 #87
Cashier at a grocery store Zing Zing Zingbah Apr 2017 #88
Here: Tikki Apr 2017 #89
Yard work around the neighborhood... a couple of paper routes (starting at age 10) Rhythm Apr 2017 #92
Usher in a movie theater. hay rick Apr 2017 #93
Official title was "laborer" at a U.S. Geological Survey map warehouse DFW Apr 2017 #94
Cleaning shit out of abandoned storage lockers Sen. Walter Sobchak Apr 2017 #95
Carpet installer assistant benld74 Apr 2017 #96
Checkout girl at the supermarket. lapucelle Apr 2017 #97
I was 9 - delivering the "mailers" (store ads) KentuckyWoman Apr 2017 #98
Latest Discussions»The DU Lounge»What was your very first ...»Reply #64