No Job is Too Big or Too Little

Dear Claire,

There are certain experiences in life that almost everyone can connect with. The great thing about these experiences is that wherever you go and whoever you meet, you can bring up one of these topics and practically everyone will have something to add to the conversation.

For example - really bad part-time jobs.

That's something almost everyone has had.

Growing up, I had what feels like, a million jobs.

My first job was selling 'Regal' door to door.  Yikes.  Selling wrapping paper and weird household items is definitely not the most glamours job out there, but I think I made about $30 a month which was pretty good for being twelve.

Then I moved into the big leagues....picking strawberries.  This job was hell and I think that if for some reason, I ever get sent to purgatory, I'll be picking strawberries until the second coming.   I had to ride my bike in the sweltering heat to the patch, pick strawberries for four hours, and then ride my bike home all for only $32.  It sucked and that was pretty much the end of my days doing "hard labor".

Soon came babysitting (quite enjoyable), working at Tim Hortons (okay), selling running shoes at Joggers (great seeing all your friends at the mall and easy hours), selling Weedman lawn care over the phone (telemarketing is pretty brutal but you can't really complain when all you do is talk on the phone for three hours a day), camp counsellor (tons of fun!), working at a bar (much more fun to be at the bar than working the bar). 

I also sold women's clothing at Jacob and served up some tasty pasta at East Side Mario's.  I had an amazing job working with kids in a group home which I loved and can share many stories about that with you one day.

I learned something from all these jobs.  Sometimes I learned actual skills, but mostly I learned that I love working with people, and more than that, I love helping people find what they're looking for.  And, really that's basically what I do now as a teacher, help young people find what they're looking for.

You're probably going to have a few crappy jobs, but you'll learn something from each of them. Simply learning that you never want to do that kind of job again is a great start. 

Hopefully you'll learn what your strengths and weaknesses are and you'll surely meet a lot of interesting people.

The more places you work, the more work experiences you have, the easier it will be for you to find work that you're passionate about and truly enjoy.

So embrace each job for what it is: a way to make a bit of cash and learn a little something along the way.


Readers - what was your worst job?????


Love you when you make that money honey!
Mom