When I was 9, the back door neighbor hired my sister and me to walk her pug dog. I took him around the block, usually by way of the McSorley's Woods, kept him from fighting and raiding garbage cans.

My sister quit after a couple of weeks. I stayed on the job for 2 and a half years, until I changed schools. It was a nice, steady source of income.

In high school I babysat. I was paid 75 cents an hour. Combat pay! In college, I worked in the cafeteria for a while, to my mother's horror and disgust, just for the experience, though the pay was nice.

I was right out of college and very broke. I wanted a copy of the Mabinogion. My mom's garden club has a big fund raiser every year, where they dip strawberries in white fondant. Twelve double boilers full of the stuff going for 2 days. I washed them, twice. I made just enough to afford Lady Charlotte Guest's translation of the Mabinogion. It was worth it.