My First Job: An Experience to Remember

By Gary Turner, Puget Sound Energy.

My first job was so long ago I actually have a problem remembering what that job was…sad but true!  One early job was working at the Bavarian Waffle Bar in the Food Circus at the Seattle Center.  The Food Circus was a large building with what we would today call a food court with many eating establishments to satisfy your dining preference. 

My training was brief - how to clean strawberries with nothing more efficient than a plastic spoon to core the berries, how to run the cash register, instruction to not ever trade free food with other vendors, and what I’d be paid.  The words I’ll never forget at age 15 or16 were “You’ll make $1.50 an hour for the first month. If you last that long you’ll get a raise to $1.65 an hour and you’ll stay at that pay forever. Good luck.”  I could eat all the strawberry topped waffles I wanted-what a benefit!

Unfortunately I succumbed and broke rule number 1, swapping a waffle for a hamburger with one of my neighboring booths by the end of the first week (I resisted offers from other vendors for as long as I could despite constant offers…strawberry waffles were in demand!) I also did make it to the raise in pay but don’t remember much else.  I still love strawberries. 

Another job was working for a plumber. A dear family friend named Archie Connors of Archie’s Plumbing still located in Greenwood.  Unfortunately Archie has passed. Digging ditches and doing the grunt work was a good job only because Archie was a great man and a really fun boss.  He was funny, kind, a really good plumber and a mentor to me (and probably many others!).  After trying to convince me I should be paying him to work because I was getting this fine bodybuilding program on a daily basis.  Archie told me to think beyond that job and to look for work that I was good at and gave me a feeling of gratification when I did it…a passion.

Archie was right on.  I decided to trade my shovel and digging skills for other skills.  To achieve what I wanted I needed more training and education, a community college first, then a bachelors degree and now a life long learner looking to improve my skills and a mission to encourage others to do the same. 

I hope that my work with Master Builders Career Connections makes a difference for other young people.  It seems harder to make a “career” today instead of just “a job” compared to my generation.  Thanks Archie for what you did for me!

My first job was so long ago I actually have a problem remembering what that job was…sad but true!  One early job was working at the Bavarian Waffle Bar in the Food Circus at the Seattle Center.  The Food Circus was a large building with what we would today call a food court with many eating establishments to satisfy your dining preference. 

My training was brief - how to clean strawberries with nothing more efficient than a plastic spoon to core the berries, how to run the cash register, instruction to not ever trade free food with other vendors, and what I’d be paid.  The words I’ll never forget at age 15 or16 were “You’ll make $1.50 an hour for the first month. If you last that long you’ll get a raise to $1.65 an hour and you’ll stay at that pay forever. Good luck.”  I could eat all the strawberry topped waffles I wanted-what a benefit!

Unfortunately I succumbed and broke rule number 1, swapping a waffle for a hamburger with one of my neighboring booths by the end of the first week (I resisted offers from other vendors for as long as I could despite constant offers…strawberry waffles were in demand!) I also did make it to the raise in pay but don’t remember much else.  I still love strawberries. 

Another job was working for a plumber. A dear family friend named Archie Connors of Archie’s Plumbing still located in Greenwood.  Unfortunately Archie has passed. Digging ditches and doing the grunt work was a good job only because Archie was a great man and a really fun boss.  He was funny, kind, a really good plumber and a mentor to me (and probably many others!).  After trying to convince me I should be paying him to work because I was getting this fine bodybuilding program on a daily basis.  Archie told me to think beyond that job and to look for work that I was good at and gave me a feeling of gratification when I did it…a passion.

Archie was right on.  I decided to trade my shovel and digging skills for other skills.  To achieve what I wanted I needed more training and education, a community college first, then a bachelors degree and now a life long learner looking to improve my skills and a mission to encourage others to do the same. 

I hope that my work with Master Builders Career Connections makes a difference for other young people.  It seems harder to make a “career” today instead of just “a job” compared to my generation.  Thanks Archie for what you did for me!