Last Sunday we had a
Relief Society Lesson on the value of work. One of the first questions asked was about what about your first job. That triggered memories all week for me thinking about my first job and how much I really loved it and how much I learned. When I was ten years old, my friend Erin and I decided we had done all the playing and had all the lazy summers we needed. Also, we were getting to the age where lots of things we wanted cost money, and we needed to figure out a way to get some cash. It hit me that Jack is ten years old right now, how young he seems to how grown up I felt at the time.
One summer day, Erin and I decided we would go ask around local businesses to see if they were hiring or had any work for us. Most probably thought it was pretty cute, two little girls out trying to earn money. We lived in a pretty small place and only had our bikes as transport limiting our search even more. We came upon the city hall, Island City city hall, operating hours 9-1 Monday-Friday. Inside was just one employee, Judy. At first I am sure she thought the same thing as many of the other places, how cute, these two little girls out looking for work. But she gave us a chance. She told us she would pay us to clean the city hall building. I don't even remember how much an hour she offered at that point. Well, the city hall building was pretty old. There was an enclosed office at the front, a kitchen/meeting room in the middle. Some bathrooms and storage, and a shop in the back. Above the shop was an attic with who knows what in it. Well, I know what-bats. Erin and I were thrilled and enthusiastically reported for cleaning duty. That is how my first job began. I was ten years old, soon to be eleven. We cleaned and did all sorts of tasks around the office. At first they were small, but as time passed, they grew bigger. We worked through the summer, then said goodbye for the school year. Judy said to come back the next summer. So we did. My job went from cleaning to being an assistant in the office. I learned how to type, enter numbers for water and sewer bills. Find plots in the cemetery, and answer phones and take information properly-a skill my ten year old is still working on.
I worked every summer until I left for college. When Erin and I got older, we would sometimes come in during the school year and do filing and type up all the burning permits. We would still clean the building, the boys bathrooms are always gross. There were different groups that met in the kitchen/conference room and it would always need cleaned after that.
I learned a lot and had a great time. I worked with great people. Judy would take us to her parents cabin on Wallowa Lake. She also gave me a few driving lessons in her stick shift Ford Fiesta in the cemetery, where I couldn't hurt anyone. She introduced Erin and I to catalog shopping and so many other things. We worked in such close quarters for years! Stan the handyman-who was much more than a handy man could fix anything and bantered with us and always treated us like princesses. We had Christmas parties and birthday parties and so much fun. There were all sorts of assistants for Stan ranging from his sons to kids our age as we got into high school. We interacted with city council members, and typed up the minutes for their meetings. The mayor would come in pretty regularly as well as guys from the fire department. I entered water and sewer bills so many times I felt I actually knew most of the residents by name at the very least. Not only did this job teach me all sorts of skills and how to work, I learned the importance of having a sense of community as well.
I think of how patient Judy was with Erin and I, she had to suffer through puberty, growing up, school and boy friend troubles with both of us. I am sure some of those years seemed pretty dramatic. When I look back I am so grateful that working there was my first job. How many people can say they were at their first job for eight years! I sometimes worry that my kids can't have this experience based on the times and where we live. Back in the eighties things were just different. And now, even though we live in a smallish town, it is a massive metropolis compared to Island City.
In the Relief Society lesson, the discussion leader wrote a quote "Let us realize the privilege to work is a gift, that the power to work is a blessing, that the love of work is success. "-President David O. McKay.
I don't know when I realized what a privilege it was to have that job and how much it did for my self-esteem. But it was huge, especially now when I look back. I had a few other jobs after that, after I went to college. I worked for BYU
So, tell me, what was your first job? What did you learn?
PS-I googled and googled for a picture of the old Island City Hall, they built the new one after I left. No luck. Mom-maybe you could snap one for me.
