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Original poster

Teenage "Saturday jobs" - did you have one? What do you think?

88 replies

Bink · 15/08/2007 10:45

Last night some friends asked us whether, if, as a teenager, dd is asked to model, we would let her do it. Trying to be sensible (instead of kneejerk & negative) about this, I thought I wouldn't ... reason being that it's so hard anyway to keep your perspective & feet on the ground as a teenager that you would have to be a very extraordinarily grounded child not to be in some way muddled up by that world.

It made me realise though that I have a principle for teenage jobs - that they should have a definite purpose (other than earning) - they should in fact put your feet more firmly on the ground - give you a sense of wider, but realistic, horizons.

My job was in a local fishmonger, and it taught me about micro-commerce (tiny profits adding up) and (especially) about elderly people's budgeting. As well as smoked mackerel. (Though I always wish I'd held out for a job in a bookshop.)

I'm interested: what did other people do? What sort of things did you learn from it? Given that I've ruled out modelling for dd [please insert "ooh Get Her" in your head there], what do you think would be a good Saturday job nowadays?

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Niecie · 15/08/2007 20:39

I had my first Saturday job in Littlewoods food hall. (anybody remember those)? My first Saturday I spent alone on the sweet counter weighing out sweets and adding everything up in my head as barcodes and fancy tills hadn't been invented then - I should add that the counter was old fashioned even for the standards of those days and the main foodhall tills did at least add up. Most of the time after that week I spent weighing out cooked meat and bacon on the deli counter. I am still a good judge of the weigh of a 1/4 lb of ham.

After 2 years there I did a year at Boots on the pharmacy counter and stacking shelves which I went back to for Christmases when at University.

In the summer holidays and sometimes the Easter hols, if there weren't any exams looming, I worked in the AA in the finance department doing various tedious admin jobs.

Obviously it was useful for earning money of my own (£4.80 for that first 4 stint in Littlewoods) but also it was a socialisation thing as it was a chance to mix with all sorts of other people after spending a lifetime in school. It was a good stepping stone to full time work and it looked good on my CV.

But in my day, it seemed to be only girls who had Saturday jobs. I know very few boys who had one - I can think of only one of my male friends who did and I know my brother didn't. Not sure why other than the fact that girls like shopping more . Is that still the case?

sibble · 15/08/2007 20:59

I had my first Sat job when I was 12, so long ago the till didn't add up, mental maths improved substantially, as did the nimbleness of my fingers trying to spread them over the keys all at once . I also learned to mop the floors at the end of the day!! What did it teach me, work hard at school, don't end up wokring in a corner shop (apologies to anybody who does, too blardy hard in my books). Next job WH Smiths, stationery then records. Thought I'd gone up in the world .

I had to work though, if I didn't we couldn't afford for me to go on school trips or do alot of things my friends were doing.

Original poster
Bink · 15/08/2007 21:01

This goes on being fascinating.
Yes - some variation of customer service does seem to be the most illuminating, & fruitful re wider horizons. (I have a dear friend whose Sat job was in a Gourmet Cheese Shop (this was in the 70s in Carmel in California - & did include non-pasteurised items, probably only place in whole of CA at that time) and I think that experience has profoundly informed his whole life. Somehow it led to something cheese-related in the Galapagos Islands - which in due course led to becoming Brazilian. I digress.)

EB, these are some other people I will one day introduce you to. I think you will be amused.

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Pixel · 15/08/2007 23:11

Niecie, LOL at you being able to judge weighing up the ham. I used to be able to cut exactly 1lb of cheese off a block. The customers liked it but my boss used to walk behind me saying under his breath "make it over, make it over". We used to call him Arkwright .

jaynehater · 15/08/2007 23:19

Worked Saturdays at Woolies and learned that

(a) All Woolies vinyls were warped

(b) If you play 'I Don't Want A Lover' by Texas, 12" version, more than 7 times in a row, you get sacked off the cool record desk position and spend the rest of your Saturdays stock-checking hairbrushes

Hulababy · 15/08/2007 23:25

As a sixth former I worked in Burgerking on till and doing children's parties. I didn't gain anything useful from it bar money and the gradual realisiation that you can't do 4 children's parties on a Sunday easily after you have been out clubbing and drinking till 2am on the Saturday night!

Hulababy · 15/08/2007 23:28

Oh and I babysat for my aunties/uncles (or rather their children) from being about 12/13 till I was 18.

Sixer · 15/08/2007 23:31

FHW. That's Freeman Hardy and Willis Shoe shop. from 14 to 16. I managed to succeed in those awful sales figures for extras. Liners, polish, leather guard etc. Then I was put on the till (I was cool).
I Used to finish in the shop at 6 then hot foot it up to a family friends restaurant (Greek) to wash dishes until 2am. I learnt, the more you work the more you get paid. At 16 on Tue, Wed and Thurs i worked in Tesco 4-8. I learnt, they had a ladies 5 a side football team, I was not in the slightest bit interested in football. Peer pressure forced me, I was a success at football. (Really hate it now).

Tinker · 15/08/2007 23:34

Donk - thank you

MamaMaiasaura · 15/08/2007 23:41

Think earning your own money is important for a teenager. I worked in a bakery and then M&S (for a time had both) I also worked as a waitress both in a pub and also silver service restuarant. Did babysitting as well. It was good because it also taught me about responsiblitly for time keeping, expectations of employers etc.

Cammelia · 15/08/2007 23:46

My best friend and I got a Saturday job in Woolworths on the sweet counter

hatwoman · 15/08/2007 23:46

I think all saturday jobs serve a wider purpose than earning. but earning is in itself a valuable lesson - the pleasure of earning - having money in your pocket because you earned it - first lesson in how the world goes round - wake up call re where the Bank of Mum and Dad actually gets its money from. They all teach you bugeting (unless your parents swipe the wages or control what you spend it on.) They mostly teach you what hard work is - many are manual/physical and low paid and even if (or rather, especially if) you're going to go on to be some real high flyer knowing what a hard day on your feet is like is good for everyone. Service jobs (catering/retail/care) teach you a lot about people skills - how being nice to customers makes your day better, not just theirs, as well as teaching you that some people just are arseholes. I don;t care if I'm a billionaire by the time dds are teenagers they are absolutely getting saturday jobs.

I did 12 hours shifts in a very busy cafe; I worked in a smart restaurant; I worked in old people's homes and I worked in a pub. I enjoyed them all. and because I strecthed out uinversity for so long did them until I was 25. and in so many ways was better off than certain people I knew who got all their dosh off mum and dad.

FlameBatfink · 15/08/2007 23:47

I did dishwashing for a bit.

Mainly, I didn't work - I had a minuscule amount of pocket money, and I either had to work my magic with that, or work.

Tis amazing how far you can make money stretch when you are too shy to get offered a job (I went to interviews, but just shrunk into myself when I got there).

So... I learnt how to budget and go without

aloha · 15/08/2007 23:47

Saturday and holiday jobs included, mother's help/nanny, dental assistant, hotel cleaner, worked on a summer playscheme (horrible kids!), worked in Dorothy Perkins makeup counter (had record sales, preen, preen), shop assistant in clothes shop, babysitting, working in local theatre selling programmes and ice creams for Christmas season, then taught myself to type and worked all university holidays temping in a variety of offices, some v interesting and fun, some not. It was all very valuable experience.

aloha · 15/08/2007 23:49

I also learned all the words to 'Memory' from Cats which was on a loop in Dorothy Perkins the summer I worked there!

hatwoman · 15/08/2007 23:52

interesting thread (did my usual - post first then read)

I agree re sexual harrassment and also re the till and mental arithmetic. cups of tea were 27 pence. I was very good at my 27 times table. in fact still am

jaynehater · 15/08/2007 23:55

lol aloha - that's reminded me, while I was on my brush-counting purgatory, I was five feet away from the constantly-looped Astonish video they played in Woolies - I can hear it now......(But at least it's not Memory)

Califrau · 15/08/2007 23:56

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

hatwoman · 15/08/2007 23:58

dorothy perkins - my my aloha weren;t you the trendy one. I also, for some reason, know the words to memory - not sure what I can attribute that to though.

I also worked for my dad in an old fashioned (ie pre-digital) photo developing and printing shop in he school holidays. there I learnt that in essence he was a mean bugger who would only pay me £40 a week because then he didn;t have to pay tax or ni. I could have earned more elsewhere but I did it cos I liked spending time with him (didn;t live with him). bit sad really. there I learnt that my brothers (they worked there too) were actually quite a good laugh. I learnt how to set magenta, cian and yellow levels in a photo. a completely redundant skill now.

hatwoman · 16/08/2007 00:00

I feel guilty now, dad wasn;t mean. I expect he only gave me a job at all coz he liked having me around....

aloha · 16/08/2007 00:00

Mem....ry....has the moon lost her memory...

Tinker · 16/08/2007 00:02

I didn't have any paid employment of any sort until I was 20

hatwoman · 16/08/2007 00:03

"memories all alone in the moonlight
has the moon lost her memory
she was beautiful once..."

(bit of a rash claim - I am realising there were some bits I could never work out what she was saying...)

aloha · 16/08/2007 00:05

I also remember one holiday working on a switchboard where I was clearly takign the place of two or three people as it never stopped for one single second. I knew it was time to leave when I walked to the tube one night, went to the ticket desk and said 'good morning, Burton Group, how may I help you?' to teh very startled cashier!

Original poster
Bink · 16/08/2007 10:47

aloha fab story!!
Is the MNer still around who had a job doing supermarket special offer announcements? The first terror-struck announcement that ended "... chicken ... oh god chicken"? (Not sure if that was a teenage job though.)

Interesting question about boys doing summer jobs - did your brothers/partners do anything? My dh didn't; think only one of my brothers did - he got himself a mechanic's job with a (famous) Edinburgh garage-chap who did only vintage VWs, esp. Beetles - I think he (db) was much more canny about what to go for rather than (like me) charging into the first opportunity for earning I could find. Bit savvier & longer-sighted.

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