The Albuquerque Journal’s Business Outlook section this week had a story about young kids — mostly teenagers on summer break — getting their first paying job.
There was a lot of focus about Dion’s Pizza, which has always made an effort to hire teenagers for work in their statewide franchises (including two here in Las Cruces.) I love to go into Dion’s and be greeted by the energetic, enthusiastic smiling teenagers wearing their bright red caps and aprons with yellow lettering. I figure for most of them, it’s a pretty good job — learning how to deal with customers in a busy environment. Both of my children did their time in the food service business while in high school and I think it was a good experience for them and taught them some valuable life lessons.
The story in the journal made me think back to my first serious summer employment when I was growing up in Ruidoso.
Of course I had work experience on my father’s newspaper from middle school on. I delivered papers to local businesses on publishing day, poured molten lead pigs for Linotype machines, occasionally set type, operated an engraving machine and did other tasks. The pay wasn’t good, but I did it because it was “family” and I learned a lot.
My first real job was at a small amusement park that set up for the summer months in mid-town Ruidoso. The rides included a carousel, small Ferris wheel, some bumper cars and a small train which operated on a track encircling the park.
My job was to operate the carousel. The work involved making sure everyone from the previous ride got off the contraption, that new riders were seated safely and that they got a certain number of revolutions when I started it up. It was a pretty simple job, but at that age, my mind drifted frequently and I sometimes lost count of how many revolutions the carousel made. Often, I became immersed in wondering how the contraption worked with all its rotating parts.
The owner of the amusement park soon noticed that I had a less than optimal focus on counting revolutions and concluded that I just wasn’t up to the task. He gave me a pink slip and my wages due. However, two days later, he called me back to work because he had forgotten that the busy Labor Day weekend was coming up and he needed more staff. Tail tucked between my legs, I agreed to return and finished up my job that weekend. I suppose I could have asked for a pay increase since I knew he was desperate, but I was pretty sure that strategy wouldn’t go well for me.
I also remember that one of the people I gave a ride to on the carousel was the super-stud quarterback of the high school football team. He seemed shocked and then embarrassed to see me operating the kiddy ride, knowing that I could blow his cool image.
“Please don’t tell anyone — especially the coach and my girlfriend — that I was here,” I remember him pleading.
I kept his secret, and when I joined the football team as a sophomore a couple of years later, he always treated me well.
I guess there are many morals to this story — mostly don’t get caught where you don’t want to be seen. And that’s especially true these days when everyone has a camera in their phone.
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