As the end of my junior year of high school approached, I, like everyone else was looking forward to a summer of being lazy. But NO! My folks announced that they had arranged with a friend who owned a "filling station" to employ me for the summer. It was an awful surprise. It was my first of many, many jobs.

From a Brief Mudcat Bio: "The incredibly long list of jobs I have held over the years includes but is not at all limited to: gas station attendant, movie theater usher, personnel clerk (USAF), apple picker, photographer's assistant (it was also a florist shop), junior executive trainee at a poultry plant, electronics salesman (remember Lafayette stores and catalogs?), furniture salesman, sporting goods salesman, beertender, bouncer, waiter, donut baker, construction gopher, concrete pump operator, surveyor's helper, water treatment plant operator, gardener, carpenter, youth employment program supervisor, hospital aide or geriatric aide or CNA or nursing assistant (depending upon the hospital nomenclature and the level of training I had at the time), highschool custodian, nightwatchman, 7-Eleven clerk, dishwasher, baker, office services aide, photocopy technician"

I was later a photocopy supervisor, hotel clerk, caretaker for my mom, and now am a water/wastewater treatment plant operator. Yes, I'm still working my ass off but expect to retire next year.