I neglect so many other responsibilities to engage in this shitfest (this thread being an unusual exception.)
Of all the kids I grew up with very few worked. That said there were very few jobs to be had back then. I had several jobs passed on to me by others as they got other (better?) jobs. My busboy job and the shipping clerk job were handed on to me by a friend. Another friend encouraged me to apply at the supermarket where I eventually became a meatcutter. Still the best job I ever had.
My wife's sister's 1st husband grew-up next to a slaughter house. Never went to school and cut meat there for years. They took advantage of him because he was not literate.
I think he just missed all that.
One of my best friends was a career meat cutter at a major grocery chain. He did quite well.
Aww it's a good diversion as long as you don't spend all day on it.
Food was so much better then.
You nailed my underlying problem.
I mowed lawns, had 2 paper routes as a kid. As an Adult, worked for the phone company, got fired, worked as a Journeyman pile driver but then Dad informed me, I must tell the Union I was over 21 to join the union. The union to this day still has me down as older than I am. Oh, worked for several gas station owners, after high school, .... opened my race shop while still in the pile drivers' union, got drafted, got home from Germany and worked again as a pile driver, Was a foreman on some jobs there. Pile driving had problems. Work was not guaranteed for 12 months. Worked for food manufacturing firms when out of a job driving piling. Worked at a GM factory, when laid off. Got sick of the laying off and used my other skills set opening a machine shop. Under bid a major job and the firm took many months to pay me. Still had to either lay off my guys or use their benefits to keep them working. Did not work well at all. Shut down the machine shop. Trained to be a real estate salesman and got a license. 2 years after, took the Brokers test and got the license. Managed for a Broker, his office since he worked full time for the Lawrence national lab in Livermore, Ca. We got into a conflict after I took a little production firm to a prosperous firm, giving me around 5 grand profit per month in the 1960s. Also I got a large commission in addition with his paying me to manage. Our conflict is he got greedy and decided to pay me commission, plus management fees was too much so in the end I opened my first Real Estate office and did a few limited appraisals for more income. Later leased another office for sales and was contacted by a lender to get my appraisal license since then the license was needed. That worked me into a full-time appraisal office. Learned of the high profits lenders made, so since my state license approve it had 2 loan offices with loan agents. Made a good living. But appraisals as a job should be done full time. I notified the lenders I quit appraising. Stayed selling real estate and lending until I retired. Enjoying retirement so much.
I thought about trying to be a technical writer here in my retirement.
