Five Jobs I’ve Had In Sedalia (That You Probably Had, Too)

It's a recurring joke around here that I've had a million jobs over the years. Especially in college, I worked sometimes two or three jobs at the same time to make some rent money.  I worked at a winery, the campus library, a laundromat, in home health, at a video store, as a telemarketer...... *thinks* I Think that's all of them in college. But I also worked some jobs here in Sedalia as a kid.  Probably the same kind of stuff you did.

1.  Threw Papers for The Democrat.

I did this for a summer before my sophomore year of college. I was saving up to buy a plane ticket.  It was actually  not that bad, but it could have it's downsides.  The papers get delivered to your house about  midnight or so.  Then you had to wrap them up, put a rubber band on them, and get them in your car to deliver to your route before 6:00 a.m.  My route was out by the Sedalia Middle School. Sometimes there would be people  waiting for the paper, sometimes there would be dogs barking, and it always dark (I tripped on a lot of stuff, even with a flashlight).  Sometimes it would rain, or it was just crazy hot.  It wasn't an easy job, but I earned my paycheck!

2.  Worked Attendance At The Missouri State Fair.

I worked several summers at the MSF.  I did a lot of gate guarding, and that must have been hilarious for the people who wanted to enter the wrong way into the gate.  "What is this five foot nothin' 17 year old trying to make me do?!" It was fun to see different people, though.  And it was nice to be able to go to the Fair when you wanted to without much issue.  Most of the people who work at the Fair are either kids or teachers.  I did my best.

3.  Fast Food.

I worked at a fast food restaurant here in town (I won't name them, in case somebody gets mad).  I worked there for one day.  Then, the next day I had a quiz in English, and I failed it hard.  My Mom made me quit because she said school was more important.  My Dad was disappointed, though.  I guess he wanted me to learn the value of hard work.  And it was hard work!  I was in the back the whole time, cleaning and cleaning and cleaning.

4.  Babysat The Preacher's Kids.

This only happened with me once.  Our church had a preacher that had four kids.  They were good kids, and they listened pretty well.  What happened, though.... I was too expensive.  I charged by the kid! I was pretty ambitious for a young person.  I think I asked for four dollars an hour, with one dollar added for each kid or something like that. He paid me, but he didn't ask me to babysit again. He found another girl in the class that had more reasonable rates, ha!

5.  Cashier At Bing's.

I was TERRIBLE at this job.  So bad.  I was on edge all the time because I was just convinced that I was messing things up left right and center.  There was a boy who worked there as a stock boy, and he was just... mean.  I was, I think, two weeks in and I had a pretty bad day - but found a quick moment of joy when I had a nice customer.  He was checking next to me and literally grabbed the free candy we gave to the kids and said, "CONGRATULATIONS, YOU WANT A CANDY?!" The managers were mostly nice, though.  They sacked me when I dyed my hair purple, though.  I had already given my notice, but hey.  I guess no purple hair on the job, huh.

What kind of jobs did you have as a teenager/young adult in Sedalia?  What kinds of jobs do your kids have now?  Tell me all about it!

Workingly yours,

Behka