Checkered past…

Charisa wrote about her first summer job and it got me thinking about jobs I have done. And there are LOTS!!!!  

I applied for my first permanent job in 2000 at the grand old age of 28. What can I say I am a late starter?  Prior to that I did temp jobs, which I LOVED!  Unfortunately it is not something that you can continue doing indefinitely. 

Some of the jobs I have done were pretty – hmmm….interesting.  A lot of them I would never want to repeat, however the do make for the best memories and stories. 

So here goes (and I am sure I will forget some).  EDITED TO ADD – this got a bit long, so I have cut out some of the more conventional jobs. 

1. Waitressing – at quite a few different places with varying results.  At the first place I lasted 1 ½ days at another I lasted nearly 3 years.  In 1994 I vowed I would never waitress again and I have not.  My first tip ever was R5.00 a lot to me at the time, especially considering I had spilt an entire bottle of red wine over the woman who happened to be wearing a white summer dress.  I thought I would be fired. (Plettenberg Bay, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town)
2. Packing CD’s – the result of vowing never to waitress again.  Not easy finding work in London if you are unqualified and won’t work in a restaurant.
3. Sticker Remover…  Don’t ask. (London)
4. Credit Card Counter……  It was boring and tedious but the most exciting part was that I got to use a computer with Excel so was able to add that to my CV. I must have been quite good at counting as they offered me a full time job.  I left. (Edinburgh)
5. Pharmacist assistant at a hospital; first for out-patients – I hated it and after the 2^nd day I told them I was leaving, so they moved me to in-patients.  I had to go into operating rooms and count supplies.  URGH!  I could never be a doctor or nurse or anything in the medical profession. (London)
6. Receptionist – at a drug centre.  To close to medical stuff so I left.  After that I had 2 more criteria for jobs I would NEVER do!  (London) 

After that I had 2 more criteria to add to jobs I would NEVER do!  Nothing medical, no reception work and no waitressing!!  I was getting fussy. 

1. Envelope stuffer (yes, that was the actual job title that was on my pay slip).  Yip, very fussy. (London)  Then I got promoted to..
2. Financial advisor….????  Who knows…I must have shown some promise in stuffing those envelopes.  I remained “Financial Advisor for 10 months.  Actually until they offered me a full time position and I freaked and left. (This was a trend).  (London)
3. Garlic picker – this has to be one of the WORST jobs in the world, it is back breaking and you stink of garlic.  I did it for 2 days the first I got sunburnt so I covered myself in sunscreen for the 2^nd day.  It rained and the mud stuck to my sunscreen and it ran into my eyes.  NOT FUN (New Zealand)
4. Peach picker, slightly better than garlic, but only slightly. Who knew you could be allergic to the fuzz on peaches.  (New Zealand)
5. Apple packer – better than picking peaches but not by much. After a couple of weeks I decided to quit!  I walked over to the manager to tell him but before I could say anything he asked if I could type – YES!!!!  I got moved to Apple Control.  FUN!!  I stayed a few months.   When I asked him later why he chose me he said I had the longest legs and the shortest shorts.  Woo hoo!  Glad I bought those shorts (New Zealand) 

I have also worked as a cleaner (Sweden), a Guest House manager (South Africa), a Buyer (also SA) and as an event planner (SA).  Now I work in insurance – go figure!!! 

Talk about having a checkered career – it was fun (at times) and at least I can look back now and laugh.

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