Last week my eldest son started his first paid job. He's washing up at The Black Bull pub two nights a week , and although he's only being paid the minimum wage for 16 year olds of £4.20 an hour, he's still going to have more money than he's ever had before.
On the first night he was there, the industrial dishwasher was broken, so everything had to be washed by hand, and as we have a dishwasher at home, 3 hours of washing up was possibly a slight shock to his system! However, he did also get to fry an egg for a food order, and it didn't get sent back so I think he was quite pleased with himself.
It made me think about the jobs I had as a teenager and later as a student. I did a few different things over the years - some I really enjoyed, other not so much, but they all added to my experience and helped me work out what I was good at.
My first ever paid job was at Blisworth Tunnel Boats, a narrowboat hire company on the Grand Union Canal, which just happened to be in the village where I lived. Several of my friends worked there too, and we spent our Saturday mornings cleaning the boats ready for them to go out again. I loved working there. We generally cleaned in pairs, and we were allowed to have the radio on, or take our own cassette tapes to play while we worked (I remember a friend introducing me to 'Kevin Bloody Williams'!!). There was always a break for coffee, and if we were going to do more than 3 hours we'd take a packed lunch too.
We had to clean every park of the boat's interior (the showers were the worst - hair in the plug holes ugh!), and the outside of the windows too. We would walk along the narrow gunwales, hanging onto the rail on the top of the boat with one hand, and cleaning the windows with the other. It was quite precarious but I don't remember anyone ever falling in.
At the end of the season we would have a boat trip for all the staff, down the canal to the tunnel, and I think we had hotdogs and drinks on the way. There was a lovely family atmosphere and I worked there for about 4 summers. I was paid a princely £1.50 an hour though occasionally the owner Diane would pay me a bit more, and I remember when I passed my exams she bought me a bottle of Malibu!
At that job I learned how to work with others (we weren't always in the same pairs), how to clean (Diane always inspected the boats when we'd finished and if anything wasn't right we'd have to do it again), how to iron (I ironed mounds of pillow cases and tea towels), and really just how to behave as an employee - be punctual, and do a good job.
My next job was not so successful. Celebration Hire was another business based in our village, which meant it was nice and easy to get to. They hired out marquees, crockery, cutlery, huge barbecues, glassware - everything for big parties and celebrations. My job was mainly to wash up. There was an industrial dishwasher that crates of dirty plates etc passed through, so I had to load the crates with dirty pots at one end of a conveyor belt, and unload the clean stuff at the other. It didn't come out dry as I recall, so there was a certain amount of drying before everything could be boxed up again. I was working alone, and so the process was pretty slow. However the owners of the company were not happy with the rate of though put. I would also get asked to help clean the barbecues and obviously while I was doing that, the dirty pots would be piling up by the conveyor belt. After a few days I was sacked for not working quickly enough. Their expectations were, in my opinion, totally unreasonable, and although I was upset at being sacked, I was pretty glad not to have to go there again!
While I was at university I didn't work during term time. I went to Durham, and at the time it was frowned upon for students to work alongside their studies as it was felt that you would not be able to give enough time to your degree. How times have changed! There were however jobs in the college that students were paid to do - for example running the bar or the shop. I never did either of those, but I did used to put my name down for reception duty at the weekends. The reception wasn't manned by staff at the weekends so there was a student rota and we were paid to answer the phone, take in packages, get messages to people - that sort of thing. I would also offer to waitress at college balls sometimes, which was a paid gig with added bonus of being able to take home anything left on the tables at the end of the meal - usually fruit and chocolate. I remember taking a whole pineapple once and a pint or two of cream!
In the summer holidays I would find myself a holiday job. One year I worked as a bar maid at the Wharf Inn, which was situated next to the canal near the village of Bugbrooke. They had a restaurant too, so as well as serving drinks I also had to take food orders. My mental arithmetic improved enormously that summer as the owners would not allow me to add up on the till (there was only one till so if I'd been adding up on it during an order, then nobody else could have used it). There were regulars who had special glasses stored behind the bar, and who expected you to remember exactly what they drank. I definitely learned about customer service!
My last summer job was in the kitchens at Duncote Hall nursing home. I was employed in the afternoons to wash up, clean the kitchen and prepare the residents' tea. It was a bit of an eye-opener. Although I was mostly confined to the kitchen, I did go and take food orders from those residents that were able to tell me that they wanted, and some of them liked to have a chat. The residents themselves were not allowed in the kitchen - it was a dangerous place for some of them that had dementia, but sometimes it was difficult to keep them out. One lady, a dementia sufferer who had travelled extensively in her younger days, was convinced she was on a train, and would come to the kitchen looking for the guard! I remember another lady wandering in and asking me what she was supposed to be doing. I directed her towards the lounge, and she said to me again, 'But what are we supposed to be doing? Just sitting still I suppose...' which I thought was very sad. To be fair, there were lots of activities for the residents throughout the week, but I suppose there just wasn't anything happening at that particular time. What I learned from that job was compassion. And how to make a little beetroot go a very long way...
Once I'd graduated I went straight back to university to do a Masters degree and then a PhD. These were full on, full time courses so there was no time for part-time work, and I was fortunate in that I received grants for both. After that I went into full time employment.
I hope my son will stick at his new job for a while. It will hopefully instill a good work ethic in him, teach him about teamwork and getting on with people, and I'm sure he'll enjoy the money! Having some work experience will also be good for his CV, and if he makes a good impression, perhaps he'll have a referee for when he's looking for his next job.
On the first night he was there, the industrial dishwasher was broken, so everything had to be washed by hand, and as we have a dishwasher at home, 3 hours of washing up was possibly a slight shock to his system! However, he did also get to fry an egg for a food order, and it didn't get sent back so I think he was quite pleased with himself.
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| Photo by Catt Liu on Unsplash |
My first ever paid job was at Blisworth Tunnel Boats, a narrowboat hire company on the Grand Union Canal, which just happened to be in the village where I lived. Several of my friends worked there too, and we spent our Saturday mornings cleaning the boats ready for them to go out again. I loved working there. We generally cleaned in pairs, and we were allowed to have the radio on, or take our own cassette tapes to play while we worked (I remember a friend introducing me to 'Kevin Bloody Williams'!!). There was always a break for coffee, and if we were going to do more than 3 hours we'd take a packed lunch too.
We had to clean every park of the boat's interior (the showers were the worst - hair in the plug holes ugh!), and the outside of the windows too. We would walk along the narrow gunwales, hanging onto the rail on the top of the boat with one hand, and cleaning the windows with the other. It was quite precarious but I don't remember anyone ever falling in.
At the end of the season we would have a boat trip for all the staff, down the canal to the tunnel, and I think we had hotdogs and drinks on the way. There was a lovely family atmosphere and I worked there for about 4 summers. I was paid a princely £1.50 an hour though occasionally the owner Diane would pay me a bit more, and I remember when I passed my exams she bought me a bottle of Malibu!
At that job I learned how to work with others (we weren't always in the same pairs), how to clean (Diane always inspected the boats when we'd finished and if anything wasn't right we'd have to do it again), how to iron (I ironed mounds of pillow cases and tea towels), and really just how to behave as an employee - be punctual, and do a good job.
 |
| Blisworth Tunnel Boats |
My next job was not so successful. Celebration Hire was another business based in our village, which meant it was nice and easy to get to. They hired out marquees, crockery, cutlery, huge barbecues, glassware - everything for big parties and celebrations. My job was mainly to wash up. There was an industrial dishwasher that crates of dirty plates etc passed through, so I had to load the crates with dirty pots at one end of a conveyor belt, and unload the clean stuff at the other. It didn't come out dry as I recall, so there was a certain amount of drying before everything could be boxed up again. I was working alone, and so the process was pretty slow. However the owners of the company were not happy with the rate of though put. I would also get asked to help clean the barbecues and obviously while I was doing that, the dirty pots would be piling up by the conveyor belt. After a few days I was sacked for not working quickly enough. Their expectations were, in my opinion, totally unreasonable, and although I was upset at being sacked, I was pretty glad not to have to go there again!
While I was at university I didn't work during term time. I went to Durham, and at the time it was frowned upon for students to work alongside their studies as it was felt that you would not be able to give enough time to your degree. How times have changed! There were however jobs in the college that students were paid to do - for example running the bar or the shop. I never did either of those, but I did used to put my name down for reception duty at the weekends. The reception wasn't manned by staff at the weekends so there was a student rota and we were paid to answer the phone, take in packages, get messages to people - that sort of thing. I would also offer to waitress at college balls sometimes, which was a paid gig with added bonus of being able to take home anything left on the tables at the end of the meal - usually fruit and chocolate. I remember taking a whole pineapple once and a pint or two of cream!
In the summer holidays I would find myself a holiday job. One year I worked as a bar maid at the Wharf Inn, which was situated next to the canal near the village of Bugbrooke. They had a restaurant too, so as well as serving drinks I also had to take food orders. My mental arithmetic improved enormously that summer as the owners would not allow me to add up on the till (there was only one till so if I'd been adding up on it during an order, then nobody else could have used it). There were regulars who had special glasses stored behind the bar, and who expected you to remember exactly what they drank. I definitely learned about customer service!
My last summer job was in the kitchens at Duncote Hall nursing home. I was employed in the afternoons to wash up, clean the kitchen and prepare the residents' tea. It was a bit of an eye-opener. Although I was mostly confined to the kitchen, I did go and take food orders from those residents that were able to tell me that they wanted, and some of them liked to have a chat. The residents themselves were not allowed in the kitchen - it was a dangerous place for some of them that had dementia, but sometimes it was difficult to keep them out. One lady, a dementia sufferer who had travelled extensively in her younger days, was convinced she was on a train, and would come to the kitchen looking for the guard! I remember another lady wandering in and asking me what she was supposed to be doing. I directed her towards the lounge, and she said to me again, 'But what are we supposed to be doing? Just sitting still I suppose...' which I thought was very sad. To be fair, there were lots of activities for the residents throughout the week, but I suppose there just wasn't anything happening at that particular time. What I learned from that job was compassion. And how to make a little beetroot go a very long way...
Once I'd graduated I went straight back to university to do a Masters degree and then a PhD. These were full on, full time courses so there was no time for part-time work, and I was fortunate in that I received grants for both. After that I went into full time employment.
I hope my son will stick at his new job for a while. It will hopefully instill a good work ethic in him, teach him about teamwork and getting on with people, and I'm sure he'll enjoy the money! Having some work experience will also be good for his CV, and if he makes a good impression, perhaps he'll have a referee for when he's looking for his next job.
I went potato picking when I was 6! All my part time jobs when I was at school were farm work. My 1st non farm job was working at Woolworths in Brigg - after O levels and on Saturdays. I listed ALL my jobs for someone once - they filled every line of A4!! We were not allowed to even have a position in a club other than member at University, let alone work. One of my colleagues was the photographer for the Union magazine, he was sent down at the end of the year. You could join the RAF group or play a sport - that was allowed otherwise we were hauled in front of the Professor and told to choose - degree or club! We also had to stay on after the end of summer term to do a project and then books to take home and review in writing during the summer. My degree was advertised a joint degree. No it wasn't!!
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