I did basically all of the shitty customer service jobs, from around 16 - 23.

I worked at Burger King, Blockbuster video, restaurant delivery, window washing, home care-giving, grocery bagging, signature collecting, several call centers, multiple coffee shops…

I had basically no work ethic at that time, so I either got bored or fired from a lot of them pretty fast.

Some of them were fun, though, or at least memorable.

One of my jobs at Burger King was to stand out in the drive-through with a cardboard box and a register to make change for people going through the drive-through. They didn’t have a second window there like they do at a lot of fast food places, so they just gave me a cardboard box and told me to stand outside. I distinctly remember being about 16 and standing in the alley holding my stupid little cardboard box and trying to keep track of everyone’s money while it rained on me.

My last day there was when I came in for work after staying out way too late the night before. I was not fit to do anything that day, but I didn’t think I could call-out, so I was so disoriented and confused when I went in that I spilled the coffee pot into the ice machine. And then my brain could not figure out how what to say or do about that problem, so I just walked out and I didn’t work there anymore.

Blockbuster was where I actually developed some work ethic for the first time, mostly because I actually liked the manager and the people that I worked with. I had a good time fucking around with coworkers; and in the end, a bunch of us quit on the same day because corporate decided to “clean house” and lay off a bunch of managers at the same time, including ours.

Also, I think my greatest call center moment was when I called this guy to ask him if he was going to use [the company’s] frequent flyer miles program for his next vacation, and he got super pissed and started yelling at me and telling me he was going to kick my ass. So I asked him if he planned to use [the company’s] frequently flyer miles when he flies out to do that. Then I set his name to [call back again later] in the computer system.

Once I was 13 and I got my work permit, I changed busses after school and went to my dad’s computer store after work. Learned how to build PCs back when Intel’s 286 recently came out.

With computers these days a kid would be lucky to get a retail job at a Best Buy.

14, grocery store stocker. My boss still works there, pretty awkward when I see him. He’s been having the same day for 26 years and I’ve been off adventuring. He’s only about 5 years older than me, seemed like a lot at the time.

Got a job at 16 selling games in the mall at Software Etc. I loved that job.

Started a web dev side hustle with some friends, back around 98 or so. We were dumb and didn’t charge enough, but we were still making 3x what fast food roles were paying at the time so we thought we were smart.

worked at Dunkin donuts making coffee and whatnot for people when I was 16. kinda insane to be as young as I am and able to say “I made the federal minimum wage of $7.25 at my first job” but it paid enough to cover (almost) all the weed I could smoke so I was happy 😁

I fought criminals in hand-to-hand combat and lived in the sewers. We all survived on pizza and had deadly weapons and training. Also banged a reporter.

Lived in a place just rural enough to not have any businesses other than a tiny supermarket, and just urban enough to not really have many orchards, much less farms. Typical shitty planning that required everyone to have a vehicle to get anywhere important. So before I got a car it was pretty much shovelling snow in the winter and mowing lawns in the summer.

I worked in a gourmet bakery/cellar/sushi restaurant, it was in probaly the most expensive mall in the continent, i was 15. The only part i liked was that sometimes the expensive products got close to the date of sale so they were put into the staff break room, so i got to eat some really good cheese, yogurts and exotic fruits for free, made me forget the staff break room was probaly inspired by the trenches of WWI.

I did back in the 70’s. I worked at Firestone tires after school and weekends for about 5 years. I changed tires (swapped old for new) and did on car wheel balancing. Towards the end I would fill in for peops who were sick etc at different locations. Had a blast.

I worked at an amusement park running a few different rides. Paid alright for the late 90s, but could work outrageous hours if you wanted. Physical and simple work in the hot midwestern humidity. Met a boy with the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen, and the rest is history.

I was a teenager back in the 80’s.

My very first job was a paper route and I absolutely hated it.

Second job was at a nursery/garden center, that also had a pool center. This job I didn’t mind so much. I learned a lot about landscaping and plants in general. I actually became knowledgeable enough that at the age of 17 I designed several landscapes, even one large job that was the HQ for a Japanese car company. Fast forward 20 years and my wife and I buy a house and my wife has always dreamed of having a yard with tons of landscaping. So I dusted off my skills and built multiple beds across our property. Today we have a yard that is mostly very mature beds which bloom continuously throughout the growing season.

I had a paper route. I hated it. They kept assigning me random houses that were several miles outside my zone.

I worked in a local butchers shop when I was 13, for an hour after school every day. I fucking hated it. I had to clean the knives and cutting boards, then sweep up. On Saturdays I had to do all that, plus disassemble and clean this big mincing machine. I got shit money. That was 35 years ago and I can still smell it.🤣

My “I was 18 and stupid” job was back of the house at a southern style fried chicken resturant in the heart of the american bible belt. While Hate Chicken will close on sundays and Colonel Fried does not give a shit, my franchise did the worst possible sale on sundays. If you came in with a local church bulletin postmarked for that day, we took 10% off your order. Now you would think this would be good for business and you are unfortunatly correct.

The problem was that everyone else that worked there was attending said services except for ~4 of us. I worked back of the house behind hot friers and ovens most, if not all, sunday mornings. The amount dead foul that has passed my hands, its an actual work of god that im not a vegitarian.