Summer Jobs

I’ve always loved those Readers’ Digest articles that feature celebrities/CEOs talking about their first jobs. Those stories usually end with the bigshot telling you how they learned something, blah, blah, blah, insert cheesy, inspirational quote. But it’s always fun to dissect the story and see if their work ethic as a kid foretold anything about their future career.

I was thinking about some of my favorite jobs the other day. 

It’s only when you’re stuck in a cubicle in the middle of a gorgeous summer day that you realize that while your minimum-wage-paying high school job may have had its financial disadvantages, there were oh so many perks. My favorites?

• Candy-striping at a hospital. No money, but there was plenty of fun to be had. Here I learned the right way to make a bed with “hospital corners.” Had my first (and hopefully only) tour through a morgue. And spent hours upon hours talking with lonely patients. (And learned that men read paperback romances a lot more than you’d think.) I also learned that nurses hate doctors with good reason. And that if you’re rich, you get the nicer room with the better view.

Vacation? What vacation?

Today is the last day of my vacation. Ever since I graduated from college two years ago, I have been working five to six days a week. It isn’t out of some sort of sadistic thrill, I suppose I could work less. But I like to stay busy. But for the month of June, I had a gap between jobs, and I found myself with four glorious Saturdays to spend in the city I love.

This isn’t something new. My family isn’t the type for vacations. As kids, I remember us bundled up in mini-vans and hustled to DC. Sometimes NYC. But we were mostly Philadelphians touristing in Philadelphia. I was the one always begging my siblings to take day-trips with me throughout Philadelphia. Alas, they weren’t as adventurous as I was. (Although there was one memorable trip where my little brother and sister and I ended up sneaking into City Hall on a Saturday, met John Street and got invited to a city luncheon. Another story.)