See the rest of the questions here.
Three jobs I have had:
1. When I was 22 I worked as a lunch lady. Yeah, my title was a lot fancier, but that's basically what I was. It was one of the most fun jobs I've ever had. Every morning and afternoon I'd drive a few blocks to a larger school to pick up breakfast, then lunch. Then I'd go room to room passing out food and collecting money. It always got really rowdy when I came in.
The school was a small, alternative K-12 that was created for children who for whatever reason had a hard time in a normal school. There was a kid with Tourette's, a large number of kids with ADHD or who were bipolar...kids in gangs...living in foster or group homes...little kids with already-tough lives. It was hard for me at first. The school was very small so I had a lot of contact with the kids. It was the little kids that I got attached to. Besides a few bad eggs, most of the little ones were really sweet and had obviously been thrust into a world that they couldn't comprehend; uncaring parents, drug use, abandonment, misfiring synapses, etc.
There was one little boy who became very attached to me. I bought him a copy of James and the Giant Peach, even though he said he hated reading. He lived in a group home, and didn't have many possessions. I inscribed the book with a little note, which I think is essential when giving a book as a gift. I wonder if he still has it.
2. My first job upon moving to Los Angeles was at a little clothing store on Melrose called Funky Diva (yeah). I was made the assistant manager despite my limited retail experience and zero experience managing people. Although the weekends were crazy-busy, the weekdays would pass slowly, sometimes with only one or two customers coming in the entire day. Luckily I worked with some really awesome girls. We would spend hours talking about our pasts, analyzing each other's current relationship drama (I was 18 so there was a lot of drama), trying on clothes, stealing clothes, and blasting music.
I worked there for eight months before I left for a better paying job. My feet hurt every day, due to my poor choice of footwear coupled with having to be on my feet for 8+ hours a day. I had an awesome wardrobe, though...and a couple close new girlfriends, none of whom I kept in touch with (I'm really bad at that, for some reason...but I'm working on it).
3. My first job upon moving back to Los Angeles after my 3 1/2 year stint in San Francisco was for a psychologist in Beverly Hills. This man, by far, was the craziest person I have ever met. His office was a tiny, two room affair, which I would often sit alone in for hours wondering what the hell I was supposed to do. I never, not in the three or so months I worked for him, had a clear concept of what my job was. I'm pretty sure he just liked having a young girl around in order to bolster his ego. And, my lord, he had an ego. He's the epitome of my reasons for not being interested in dating a Jewish guy. An overly confident, ego maniacal, sexist, oblivious, exhausting narcissist...that's what he was.
When I quit the first time, after the first few confusing weeks, he responded by offering me a $5 an hour raise, which I accepted. The second and last time I quit, after a couple months of more confusion, coupled with blatant and creepy sexual harassment, we got into a screaming match. I still get the creeps when I think about him.
what's the best/worst job you've ever had?
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I loved your lunch-lady stories... not just because the kids were so interesting, but because you were so obviously so enthralled with them and with what exactly made them different or alternative - and this was waaay before you knew about mom-blogs!
My best and worst jobs are often the same (a month spent waist-deep in snow somewhere in Eastern Europe) but I have to say that printing other people's photos was the most informative - early on, I felt like I had traveled all over the world just through photos... and in college(at a lab in hollywood), I had the unique opportunity to desensitize myself to extremely-gay-male-porn!
worst job: clerk/sales associate in a Sears hardware department. i don't even think it counts as a job actually - i did it for school credit in my senior year in high school. all i did was update price tags the entire time i was there.
best job: i guess the one i'm at now. being the i.t. dude at a theatrical marketing agency can be pretty interesting. i think i want to eventually become a teacher though. either that or something where i get to eat tacos all day.
selling Ben & Jerry's ice cream and Dove Bars from a mobile vending cart in midtown Manhattan
second best: security guard at the museum of modern art in Manhattan
and hi. found you on Kurt's OPE, his blogroll
Hey! It's Carla! I finally started my astrology blog!
astrologeez.blogspot.com
Anyway, worst and best jobs:
WORST!: When I was 18 I got a job working retail at an upscale S+M/fetish boutique in DC. I worked on comission and even though EVERYTHING in the store was ridiculously expensive, I was such a bad salesgirl that I barely sold anything the whole time I was there.
I thought this would be a really awesome experience. My good friend was working there too so I imagined us standing behind the counter chatting all day, playing dress up with the fancy corsets when there were lulls, and getting invited to all sorts of cutting edge fetish balls, etc.
What I got was dealing with a plethora of all sorts of pervs on a daily basis. I was selling adult diapers to overweight, middle aged "baby men", and spending an hour in the dressing room while a sweaty cross dresser soaked through all the expensive clothes in excitement (then left without buying a thing). I sold butt plugs to bored housewives and dressed slack jawed yokels in latex suits. It was not nearly as interesting or glamorous as I'd pictured.
The management was BATSHIT crazy and made all my supervisors neurotic, uptight messes which added to the negative experience.
My boss told my I looked nervous when I gave vibrator demonstrations. I never did anything right. Truth be told, I was just too damn young and they were a bunch of whackjobs (and totally out of business I might add). I quit after three months and never looked back.
Best Job: My seasonal job as a teen-early twenties at the Maryland Renaissance Festival. I worked the door of the Tarot Booth (where my mom worked) taking appointments and timing sessions. It was a pretty easy breezy job and I essentially got to people watch all day. Plus any time I got tips I spent it on mead, cheesecake on a stick, and fried corn nuggets. BEST!
Post a Comment