Listmania four: To all the jobs I’ve loved before

I have worked since I was young (daytime babysitting since I was still in single digits) and have been earning regular money to fund things or pay for school since I was fourteen. That’s a lot of jobs since I am about to turn 41!

So here’s my highlight reel of jobs:

High school jobs – cash is king

included stints babysitting, working at The Gap and  a card /gift store on Madison Avenue where I actually had my own set of keys so I could open or close the store!, and my personal favourite which was working for a bookbinder.

Thanks to our art teacher at school a few of us girls (no boys strangely) were hired to catalogue this guy’s famous collection of bookbinding tools. Herbie was a character who had a yappie dog, a gun (don’t ask) and Jamaicans working in the basement with us where it wreaked of pot every afternoon we worked. We were teenage girls, paid cash and it was a tad insane when we look back on it now and laugh together.

College jobs – cash goes straight to paying for my education

Uni is where the jobs were strictly to pay for the expensive education I needed so I took what I could – waitressing again, fundraising for the university by phone at night, summers selling frozen lemonade as a street vendor in Manhattan (you know those carts you always see selling hot dogs and such?).

Overseas jobs -very little cash,  experience is king

After deciding not to be a lawyer as planned I went travelling and met my now-husband.

We met on a kibbutz in Israel and my jobs there ranged from kitchen work, laundry, cleaning and my favourite – the orchards. I woke up around 4:30am to get ready to be driven to the orchards where I worked a few hours until breakfast, then returned until lunch around noon. Day’s job done. My time was spent  fixing irrigation lines or driving a tractor as we sprayed (I had never even driven a car at this point and learned in 5 minutes before being sent on my way) while taking in the beautiful scenery, eating fresh citrus off the trees and getting tan.

My next job was in Bangkok – I worked for a non profit for two years on the issue of child prostitution, trafficking and labour. Great work, patriarchal organisation, learned heaps but had to leave as I was not going to move up until I had “done my time” no matter how good I was.

I moved back to New York temporarily and fell into a job as a conference manager for a small destination management company. Great work and money. Biggest memory is interviewing, getting the job and starting work all without having a clue at all what the hell the job was or what the company did exactly (I still wonder what was going on in my head during the interview).

Hubby (then-boyfriend) was still working in Asia at this point. I visited him in Hong Kong where we got engaged. Eventually I gave notice and we moved to Australia. From then until I went on maternity leave (where I stayed permanently) I worked in radio advertising and promotions. Fun times until the company went public and then – not as much fun so it worked out well that I stopped working to be at home…

where i have been for the last 9 1/2 years!

Tell me what your craziest or most fun job was?

Find your simple,

Deb

Link up for listmania four:

Prompt for listmania five is: A day in the life

Take hourly photos (or as often as you can) and document a day in your life this week. Share a snapshot of your life through pictures – tell us the time and what you were up to etc. Have fun!

Image credit: flickr user jips stick