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

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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?

Not a saturday job but in holidays I worked in Spillers Pet Food HQ in New Malden. Inputting data into the computer such as "200 tonnes of pigs heads" etc. Taught me never to have a pet

Absolutely hated it but really important to do an awful job like that - makes you realise it's worth working at school so you don't have to go and work at Spillers Pet Food

First job after university - emptying dishwashers in a staff canteen. Had to wear polyester skirt, stripy polyester blouse, polyester waistcoat, bowtie and straw boater . Had just left Oxford... Was the only person there not to have been to prison. Kept VERY quiet about where I had been. Learned that most people's lives are tough and that I am very lucky.

M and J - I know that keeping quiet feeling. didn;t quite work with ex cons but when I worked in care homes whilst doing an MPhil in oxford the people I worked with had about 1 cse between them. although I think I possibly did some good pr. when people did find out about my other life they were quite staggered at how normal I was...

DH did had a student job at a very posh hotel near Heathrow. He said the kitchens were filthy and it was a wonder anyone who ate in the (very expensive) restuarant there got out alive.

He also worked with the baggage handlers and said they used to deliberately bash the trolley wheels to make them difficult to use. Sadistic bastards.

I used to serve tea and coffee to members of the public who were being given the hard sell at a timeshare company.

Remember pouring the coffee thinking- " they are trying to rip you off!"

all of the sales staff there were sleeping with each other.

I was 15 I think and I used to get £25 a day for it, which was a lot for a 15 year old 14 years ago.

I worked in Etam from 16 - 19

Taught me you got better pay and discount in Etam than friend did in Miss Selfridge but Miss Selfridge had better clothes (1980's)

My Manager thought I was very odd because I turned down all overtime. She also flirted continuously with my boyfriend grrrr.

i have worked since i was 13 (yes, i know limit is 14!).

floristry shop
pie mash and eels shop (yuck!)
floristry shop
second-hand sales
fish and chip shop
waitress

till i finished uni.

i worked every summer holidays and enjoyed working with older people. especially in a trade, when they pass knowledge on, trade secrets, way things can be done - brill.

paid for my clothes, art materials and booze!

ooh, one lady i worked for held back my wages (i did 6 days for £25 a day).

she said it was too much for a young girl like me (17) and would only give me £100. i hated her after that! but, her son whose shop it was, was a real sweetheart and gave me a wicked reference!

I worked in a shoe shop and ....bought more pairs of shoes than I could ever wear.....found out what was going into the sale early and reserved all the ones I liked for when final reductions came in ......learnt the value of money as I had to buy everything except stuff for school......learned I hated working with the public......learned lots of people have disgusting feet......men are much more fussy and take loads longer farting about choosing shoes than women.....to work really hard at school so I didn't have to do a job like that when I left.....it was bloody hard work and much preferred using my brain than my brawn

I worked every day after school for a very forward thinking organisation that sold IT solutions. (This is a long time ago...) I learned about finance, invoicing, sales, logistics, quality - everything about how a business operates. I worked there from 13 right through sixth form and every holiday from University. They let me try anything as my skills developed.
I learned a massive amount - I basically grew up in a business and just have a feel now for what works and how to get to customer solutions.
I worked for them once I graduated and ended up running Customer Services for them.
Money was good at the time, I saved up loads before I went to University which was nice to fall back on every term.
Think working as a teenager wasn't really an option - just something you did.

I worked in a greengrocers which I hated-it was cold and really badly paid. I also worked in a bakery which again I hated because of the smell. I stuck the green grocers for a few years but only did the bakery for a few months. I think its helpful if saturday jobs are at least bearable other wise it can put you of work full stop. I also had 2-3 jobs at a time at Uni, Some were great and some were really bad, I worked in a pub for 2 years and didn't like that much but it was fairly well paid, I also worked in a furniture shop which was incredibly exploitative as in theory you worked for the commission on furniture sales and got a really low wage but as most of the stuff they sold was small goods like cushions and only about 10% of it was furniture so not much to sell, it wasn't worth doing.

My favourite job was working in the tourist information office as I had to use my brain to actually do something that was useful, and ended up sorting out their computer for them as they were not very computer literate. I know a fair bit about the british travel industry as a result and even though I haven't done anything vaguely related to it since, it is useful.

I also volunteered in a local theatre/cinema for about 5 years when I was a teenager which was great, i didn't get a wage for it but got paid in free tickets and sweets for the cinema.

At 16, I worked in a park selling icecreams which was a fantastic. Loved it but left when the boss tried it on with my mate who also worked for him. Used to take £600 a day for that creep. He paid me a tenner. Soooo naive then.

Then I worked in a bakery where I learnt that it is vitally important for Mrs Bert to have her farmhouse granary every Saturday at precisely 8.04 or the world ends. Oh, and you really don't want to eat cakes every day just because you can.

Then I worked in Trueform shoe shop in The Strand in London. Worked with four mates, had a real laugh. Radio on, lovely strange customers.

Then another shoe shop where I was sacked because my Nan died and I talked to my cousin in the shop that day "Don't bring your personal business here". BARSTARD manager.

I worked for a sandwich shop.
I'd go into the unit they had on a Sunday and make the sandwiches up and occasionaly I would work in the shop but I wasnt allowed to handle money as I was only 13/14.
It paid crap money but it was cash in hand and I could go to town with my friends on a Saturday and spend it.

I then got a job in a shoe shop at 15 which paid better money and went straight into the bank, so I felt like a real grown up
But like charlie999, I spent far too much of my wages on shoes.
I did make some brilliant friends though, good social life and because I enjoyed it that much that I left college to work there full time and earn a proper wage.

Oh yes I did a tourist info job too - but behind the scenes, in the head office - what I learned there (and holds true now) is how incredibly powerful and territorial the blokes down in Postage and Packing are. The boiler-room of collective action.