| Local community members share memories of their first jobs.
"I sold ads for the Maneater and Savitar while in college at the University of Missouri and after I graduated with a degree in history, I took a job in Kansas City with the division of family services in the welfare office."
Cindy Mustard
Director, Voluntary Action Center
"My first job was working as a lifeguard at a very small pool in a little farm town called Prairie Home outside of Boonville, MO. For a sleepy little rural town of 200 folks this was a hub [of activity] and a watery paradise!!"
Chris Willow-Schomaker
General Book Buyer, University of Missouri Bookstore
"My first job was nearly twenty years ago. I waited tables at the Golden Eagle Riverboat Dinner Theatre in Canton, MO for $2.15 an hour. No one tipped because it was a buffet, but I did get to learn all the words to "Let Me Call You Sweetheart." The wait staff sang it every night as the show was ending. A cute boy also worked there as a dishwasher... a boy who eventually became my husband!"
Sarah Hill
KOMU-TV8 News Anchor
“I worked as an usher at a Jefferson City, MO movie theatre. My boss advised me, don’t bring home problems to work and when you’re done, don’t take work problems back home!”
Jim Riek
KOMU-TV8 News Anchor
"I worked at a small, independent bookstore called Books Etc. I made less than $4.00 an hour and spent every penny on books from the store. I ended up working there for five years and it shaped my love of reading and writing. Another added bonus is my amazing ability to alphabetize."
Beth Malicki
KOMU-TV8 News Anchor
"I served ice cream in a "Pineapple Whip" stand on the busiest street in
Springfield, Missouri. The ice cream was delicious on those hot summer
nights, but my boss made me put on a hula skirt and hula by the road for
a few hours to bring in more customers... I'm surprised anyone even
stopped!"
Alyea Azeez
KOMU-TV8 News Anchor
"I watched a teenage girl and two boys one hot summer. I earned $5 a day for my skills. I also received a headache almost every day!"
Rosemary Frank
KOMU-TV8/WB5 Promotion Manager
"My first job was in a bowling alley in Spokane, Washington. I usually began every sentence with: 'WHAT?'"
Mark Edwards
KOMU-TV8 Meteorologist
"My first job was at Hastings Typewriter Company, an office supply store. I was to “work the counter” and use the office machines to produce copies, stencils and facsimiles. I was one of two females working in the business, the other lady was the book keeper. My favorite employee was “Chief”. He was in charge of ordering and keeping all of the supplies. He had been a Navy Chief, was a small boned man, not much taller than myself, but with upper arms that were huge... The back room was spotless under Chiefs watch! Everything was in its place."
"...the company had several very old displays, one of which was a display of pen and ink pen points. The points were no longer available to be purchased and the manager gave me the display case to take home. I have used those pen points for 38 years!! Little did he know that those points would be so cherished and well used!"
"I only worked at the store for several months, then went to college, but the people are still vivid in my memory because they were very nice to an extremely young and inexperienced girl! I have come to appreciate their patience and willingness to train the 'kid'.”
Nancy Lewis
Executive Director, Kingdom of Callaway Chamber of Commerce
"I couldn't wait to get my first job. Since you had to be 16 to work for
wages in California, I started applying at the Encinitas Mayfair Market Café
a year before my birthday. About a week after my 16th birthday, I started my
first career as a waitress at the counter. The uniform was a starched, gold
button-down dress that touched my ankles because it was too big. The counter
clientele were generally older, single men, who pretty much sat there all
day requesting coffee refills. I enjoyed joking around with them. There was
only one guy who lacked a sense of humor; the waitresses referred to him as "The Wedge" because he always ordered a wedge of iceberg lettuce slathered
in Thousand Island dressing. He rarely spoke. There were rumors that he had
oodles of money; he also had very long fingernails, but I'm pretty sure he
wasn't Howard Hughes. He always tipped me a dime."
Marsha Vanderlip
Community Relations, Barnes and Noble
"My best friend's father was the manager of the S.S. Kresge 5 & 10 (a five
and dime store). I was a sophomore in high school and feeling very grown-up
with my first job. I sold items from a rectangular space that was
surrounded by the cosmetic counter on all sides and had its own cash
register and me in the middle. One day a boy that I liked came in the
store, and seeing me, sauntered over to my counter to say hi. As I
stood there leaning against the counter trying to look so cool, my feet
slipped out from under me and I disappeared under the counter. I looked
up and saw that he was leaning way over. Peering at me with a
concerned look, he inquired, "Are you alright?" I was...but mortified!"
Kay Kjelland
Office of Cultural Affairs, City Of Columbia
"My first job was in high school. During the summer, I typed up autopsies for the Kings County Hospital pathologist's office."
Wendy Libby
President of Stephens College
"My first job part-time job was sweeping out a one room country school when I was nine years old in the third grade. I walked one mile to Liberty school, swept out the school and in the winter built a fire in the wood-burning stove. My first full-time job was teaching biology and geology at Hickman High School in Columbia, MO. I am very proud of some well-known local physicians who took their first advanced biology and physiology class with me."
"One never forgets their first job. Later in life, after earning a doctorate, I worked for two universities as well as the U. S. Government with special assignments in Paris and Munich. But, still, I'll never forget what a one room school and a biology classroom smell like."
Charles C. Campbell
Co-owner, Campbell Insurance, LLC
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