Funny thing about growing older—you realize that your parents were right more than they were wrong. Except… except!… when it comes to odd jobs. Y’know, those jobs you took to pay for clothes, parties, and tuition; to avoid figuring out post-college days; to gap-fill when any job would do. I’m here to tell you that these experiences add up. Just take a look at my stellar resume of odd jobs to see what I mean:
Singing telegram messenger
This high school job let me don costumes, master the art of driving while batting 25 helium-filled balloons out of my way, and bring happiness to all—especially the cop who arrived at the scene of the accident when I was in the bunny costume.
Lesson learned: Expect the unexpected. And don’t forget the trench coat.
Swiss Colony® food passer-outer
High school again—and more costumes. I now stood safely out of my car and inside the mall, where I wore a Swiss Miss uniform and carefully balanced a metal tray filled with toothpicked cubes of low-grade cheese and salami, asking passers-by, “Try some Swiss Colony today?” Repeatedly. For eight hours.
Lesson learned: Every job has a bit of boredom. It’s made better with cured meats (AKA rewards and recognition).
Aerobics instructor
College (and pre-liability days) found me teaching aerobics, without a lick of knowledge about physiology or motivation. My hard-core, extended abdominal work—sans shouting “one more, two more, you can do it!” à la Jane Fonda—won no fans. I relied on the class being self-motivated—heck, I was sweating it out too! Didn’t hear me complainin’. I was fired.
Lesson learned: When times are tough, you need to cheer(lead).
Theater intern
My first post-college gig and on my way to a life in the theater! Hello, NYC children’s theatre company! Hello, marketing department! Wait…where are the lights? The makeup? The costumes?!
Lesson learned: Every organization’s a business. If you don’t get that, you won’t be in business.
Waitress
Post-divorce and holding down two jobs—the real one and this one. Counting the number of customers coming into the restaurant. Counting the number of dollars in my apron from the customers who have already come and gone. Counting the bills due to keep the house and the lights and heat on.
Lesson learned: Nobody’s thinking about engagement when they don’t have a living wage.
Whether it’s because jobs are scarce, the path’s unclear, or the bills need to be paid, odd jobs have their place. And I’m sure I’m not alone in my oddball job history. Share yours and I’ll give you my Kelly Girl Temp of the Year award — a story for another day.
Fran, interesting way to look at all those random jobs we have in life. For me, I had Baskin Robbins. Scooping ice cream, decorating cakes, and mopping. Lesson: Even unlimited ice cream cannot make mopping sweet.
Then there was the florist where I learned how to make floral arrangements and take orders. Lesson: It’s cool to take direction and learn to make money doing creative things. Also, learned that men who buy roses are lazy- they don’t give it a second thought. Men who buy their wife or girlfriend her favorite flower- PRICELESS.
The only odd job I ever did was in my early twenties. I had decided I was moving to the SF Bay Area to take it easy and just party. My previous job was super stressful and I wanted a change. My buddy got me a job at his company that made some type of specialty PC printer. When I told him where they put me he said the guy I was working with was an idiot and nobody knew how he was still employed. He thought maybe they were planning on replacing him with me eventually. Well, they did exactly that – except that he got promoted and was now my boss! My sole job was to deliver screws and small parts to different areas. And I had some jackass micromanaging me while I did it! He kept yelling at me for delivering multiple orders at the same time. If department A wanted two parts, he would make two trips. I would make one trip and take along the orders for departments B & C too. I only lasted 2 days. I moved back to the east coast and went back to school.
LESSON #1: I thrive on responsibility and being challenged. “Gravy train” jobs are not for me.
LESSON #2: My friend was really mad that I quit after 2 days (without notice*). I should have stuck it out for a while just so he didn’t look bad for recommending me.
*It’s not a great excuse but I didn’t give any notice because I bought a round-trip ticket when I moved there and the return ticket expired the next day.
trish, priceless — that’s perfect, and so right. white tulips for me, in case anyone’s asking.
brian, great lessons, no?!
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What a marvelous post! I love the focus on the jobs that are out of the career mainstream as well as the point (as my mother said) that there’s always something to learn. Here are two jobs and learnings from my own distant past.
My very, very first job was delivering prescriptions for a local drug store. I was about 9 or 10, I guess. The jobs went to the kid who got the best review from the customer. It turned out to be me because I had manners drilled into me at home. We received no pay, but could keep tips.
Lesson: Manners and courtesy are part of customer service. Good service means profit.
My first sorta-real job (I needed a work permit) was setting pins. Yes, there really were pinboys back in the Pleistocene Era and I was one of them.
One lesson was the same as the drug delivery job. Good service meant good tips and tips were how you made money.
Another lesson was that hard work pays off. If you worked two lanes instead of one you doubled your income and tips.
Every now and then an errant pin would hit a pinboy. It hurt. But nobody cared except you. The bowlers still expected the same level of service and good cheer.
wally, i took one more lesson from your stories: the customer’s experience is the be-all and end-all, even if that means you’re the mole in the bowling whac-a-mole game.
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