9 to 5 and sometimes 6 to 3

Something that is fun to find out about people is what jobs they’ve held over their lifetime. Some people have had one or two, most have had many. I’m interested to know what you have “done for a living.” In somewhat chronological order, here’s the jobs I’ve held (those that I can remember, anyhow):

• Most girls babysit a time or two in their teen years. I had several families from my church that I babysat for on a regular basis. One of those families in particular. They lived right down the street, and I started caring for their little baby, S, when I was but 13. Now that I’m a mom I can’t say I’d let a 13-yr-old watch my baby, but I was a very responsible kid, and they had known me for years before I started babysitting. Now their kid is in high school and has a girlfriend. Sheesh, I’m old.
• My brother and I would clean my mom’s office a couple of times a week. She worked (and still does) at a law firm in town, and we dusted, vacuumed, took out garbage, wiped counters, etc. Wasn’t much, but it gave us some spending money.
• District Administration – I did little odds and ends type jobs for the DA. I stuffed envelopes, ran checks (yeah, I got to see all the teachers’ paychecks), filed…again, another super-exciting job.
• I worked two summers doing maintenance/janitorial/landscaping for the MN/DOT. Early to bed, early to rise, and not bad pay to boot! However, I recall that I locked my keys in my work pick-up twice and had to be rescued. One time was at a gas station. The pick-up sat at a pump and I sat in the back of the pick-up until my dad could come unlock it for me. You’d think I would learn my lesson, but no. The next time I was working at a remote DOT station a good hour’s drive from town, wire-brushing rust off a pole shed (glamorous, I know), and I locked my keys in the pickup. I had to walk into the nearest town and call my dad from a hardware store. He told me to go back to the DOT station and wait for the guys who worked there to show up, and they would help me. Ah, humility.
• One summer I worked as a counselor at a Bible camp in northern MN. It was a very hard summer, and I learned a lot about myself. It also solidified that camp as one of my favorite places on earth.
• I worked two
• My boyfriend (husband now) got me (and several of our friends and my brother) a job at NDSU’s Festival Concert Hall. I was mostly a ticket-taker or an usher. It was great. We got paid to tear tickets for half an hour, pick up the aisles afterward, and listen to some awesome music or do homework in between.
• After graduation from college (and after my wedding), I spent an entire summer looking for a job. Jobs are scarce in Fargo, ND, no matter what they try to tell you. Scarce, I should say, for those with a college degree who want to work in their field. I ended up holding two part-time jobs: an after-school program for K-6 kids through the YMCA (LOVED the job and my co-workers) and in-home elderly care. Some people are great at things like caring for the elderly. I am not compassionate in the right way. I had one client who was great to spend time with–I would do her laundry, clean her floors, make her bed, and we would sit and crochet together or watch movies and talk about her family. She was so sweet. But I had other clients who I had to sponge bathe (yuck!) or who couldn’t talk so I could understand them. That was hard. I really love and respect older people for the most part, but doing things like that was just too much for me.
• I worked off and on doing temp work through two different companies. This was interesting and got me a lot of varied experience. I edited grants for a company who specialized in neurological disorders, I did filing and data entry at a steel mill, I learned and then taught mileage- and fuel-tracking software at a trucking company…I even helped a business consultant “get his files straight” in his dump of a home office.
• No doubt my newfound versatility landed me my next job as an executive assistant to the Pres. and VP of a private school. I liked a lot of my co-workers, but had a very difficult time with the Pres. Most of the teachers did not like him and I often got caught in the middle of that–awkward, to say the least.
• When my father got sick, I wanted to learn more about what I could do to help him, and I got involved in a home-based business selling fruits and veggies in capsule form. I have learned everything I know about nutrition through this business, and though I haven’t worked hard enough at it for it to be a primary source of income, it means a lot to me.
• I interviewed for several fine jobs here in the cities and accepted the one at which I am currently employed. I administrate projects for the general contracting division of a large company. To put it plainly, I do a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff that goes on when a building is being constructed. I love my job and my co-workers.

So…what jobs have you held?