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I imagine that most of you have had a summer job as a teenager that you despised but did it anyway as a "Character builder."
In another thread about shoveling domestic animal manure, Kiwon made an interesting observation that every young person should have an experience like shoveling manure.
What type of summer job do you remember having that built your character?
One summer during my college years, I got a job at Wright Products in Rice Lake, Wi. The factory was geared around manufacturing parts for screen doors.
Its main product was building the pneumatic tubes you attach to screen doors to keep them for slamming shut. They are about 16" long and about 2" in diameter.
Inside those tubes is(or was--the tube's inner parts may have been improved over the years) a 2 foot spring coil. As the spring coil came down the assembly line, my job was to take a spatula and apply a thin coating of axle grease to each coil. I performed the same task 5,000 times each 8 hour swing shift for the entire summer!
Most of the employees in that factory were full-time employees who had been there for years. For the summer construction season, they usually hired half a dozen college kids to meet the increased demand.
It was a valuable lesson for those of us in our late teens to indeed pursue AND complete our college degree. We did not want to end up with a job like that for the rest of our lives!
To this day, whenever I go to a friend's house I will check the pneumatic tube on the screen door. Often it will have the name "Wright Products" on it. I smile and say to myself, "Yeah, I remember that summer. Not only did I get my bachelor's degree, I went on to get my master's as well. They both gave me a career rather than "just a job."
What type of summer job is forever imprinted on your memory?
In another thread about shoveling domestic animal manure, Kiwon made an interesting observation that every young person should have an experience like shoveling manure.
What type of summer job do you remember having that built your character?
One summer during my college years, I got a job at Wright Products in Rice Lake, Wi. The factory was geared around manufacturing parts for screen doors.
Its main product was building the pneumatic tubes you attach to screen doors to keep them for slamming shut. They are about 16" long and about 2" in diameter.
Inside those tubes is(or was--the tube's inner parts may have been improved over the years) a 2 foot spring coil. As the spring coil came down the assembly line, my job was to take a spatula and apply a thin coating of axle grease to each coil. I performed the same task 5,000 times each 8 hour swing shift for the entire summer!
Most of the employees in that factory were full-time employees who had been there for years. For the summer construction season, they usually hired half a dozen college kids to meet the increased demand.
It was a valuable lesson for those of us in our late teens to indeed pursue AND complete our college degree. We did not want to end up with a job like that for the rest of our lives!
To this day, whenever I go to a friend's house I will check the pneumatic tube on the screen door. Often it will have the name "Wright Products" on it. I smile and say to myself, "Yeah, I remember that summer. Not only did I get my bachelor's degree, I went on to get my master's as well. They both gave me a career rather than "just a job."
What type of summer job is forever imprinted on your memory?
)
I was the basket check girl at the local pool. 
Understanding you have to pay your dues in the Pool Empire, the following summer I was cashier and by 16 had made it to head lifeguard. After that it was mostly waitress and banquet jobs until after college. Come to think of it, minus the seasonal employment from 14-16, I've had a job my entire life since then. Thanks for bringing this up.......I think I'll take a break and quit my job tomorrow!!!!!
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