time travel tuesday ~ first job experience

Time to share your first job experience...
What was your first job experience?
Do you remember the first paycheck, starting salary?
Do you remember your first boss, coworkers?
What was your favorite task/least favorite task?
How did that job end?

My first job was right before I was 16. I was at the mall and saw my cousin Dee Ann working in the fabric shop. It was a small fabric shop called So-Fro Fabrics. She mentioned that they were hiring a few people to help inventory the store. I spoke to the manager and was hired on the spot. I was so excited!

My mother has always sewn things. I remember coming home from school when I was young and there would be an outfit laying on my bed she had made while I was away (that and my dolls lined up with their hair washed and curled, but that's another story altogether)... Yes, my mom was a worker, and so we spent many days looking at fabric. Enough so that I felt well in my element to work at this store.

Right across the way in the mall was a greek restaurant called "Olgas." They had a three-cheese olga that was wonderful, and spinach pie! YUM. Anyone have an Olga's near them? They have vacated Okahoma... Anyway, first job... so I worked there most Saturdays and some evenings after school. There was a woman that usually worked with me and we got along fine. I cannot remember her name, but one night we were closing up and a young man came in asking for change. We were both there and gave him change. I guess he was some kind of quick change artist type, because we came up a little short. She blamed me. I started applying at other stores because of this irritation. I moved up in the world to a young fashion clothing store... I can't remember the name of the place, but all my $$$ went for things from that store.

I think my starting salary was minimum wage at the time, $3.35/hr. Woo Hoo! I don't even know what minimum wage is now, but this sure sounds like a tiny hourly amount.

The scariest time I remember was leaving the mall after work one night, it wasn't dark yet. A man walked along with me, too close. He had a trench type coat on and opened one side to reveal many gold chains. I wasn't interested... I told him I didn't have any money. He said he had friends who would pay dearly for my time. That set off the alarms in my head. I was about to my car at that point so I jumped in quickly and noticed he had run over to the passenger's side to get in too. He got in the door but had not gotten seated so I peeled out of my parking spot and he lost his grip on the door. I drove to the other side of the mall before I stopped to close the door. Matt was at my parent's house when I got home so I told them all what had happened. We called the mall security and they caught him. He had other complaints and some warrants out for him already. That was scary.

I can't say I learned a whole lot at my first job, other than how to cut fabric and how to make a baby blanket... oh, and how to escape a psycho felon!!! Good stuff.