For much of my high school years I volunteered at Open Door, an afterschool program for underprivileged kids in inner city Worcester, MA. It was housed in an old church taking over much of the lower levels. It is where I learned that some families lived multigenerational; many generations living together in one flat. I learned that 17 people could sleep in one room. I learned what a cold water walk-up was. I learned that some kids only had one meal at home and depended on the snack served at Open Door (far different than today's free breakfast/lunch program and weekend back pack program). I am pretty sure I never gave any thought to how all that was paid for. Was the space and food donated? How did the staff get paid? Most classes had one teen and one adult volunteer, but what about the director? Yes, Open Door is where I began to understand what need was. My life was a life of 'want', far different circumstances than what those kids lived with.
My freshman year in college I was a weekend waitress at the Glen Ellen Ski Area bar during the ski season, earning my college ski pass and a small bit of money plus tips. The bar was always crowded after the lifts closed and music played every Saturday until 6. It was a busy, sweaty and often loud experience. It was mainly college kids drinking too much and thus a few unsavory moments to contend with. (I admit, I did purposely dump a tray of beer mugs on a guy with the gentle disguise of being bumped in the crowd, but he knew the result was meant just for him).
One summer I tried to cocktail waitress on Cape Cod, MA, but the drinking age then was 21, I was 'caught' being under age (no fake ID for me), so I soon found myself working at Burger King; an even more unsavory job to working with drunk college students. It was a glaring reminder that I did want to be a teacher. It set a foundation for future career success. Being a college student on the Cape was a crash course in money management, something I had never had to do up until then. It was a summer of building self confidence and a sense of responsibility.
With a graduate degree I had to wait for someone to get old or pregnant before getting a full-time teaching job in a small community of Vermont. I spent the next 20 years teaching, a true passion. And through the years from first job until retirement I learned to make constructive use of my time, to plan ahead, to be patient in the early years of teaching with my personal expectations, to be personable and honest with all who came and went in my life and to make communication a constant part of my work world
In 45 years since my first official job, I have lived a long oath of accountability. Each job had different expectations, but at this point in life I am grateful for those who demanded results, helped me be accountable, guided and coached me and inspired me to try, always try.
My job list, not necessary in order... let's see what I remember
- Baby sitting
- Open Door
- College dorm dishwasher
- Short order cook at the Student Union
- Life guard
- Swim instructor
- House cleaner
- Bar waitress
- Burger King
- Camp counselor
- Teacher's aide
- Teacher (my actual career)
- Part-time Wedding-Inn Assistant
- Home Health 'homemaker'
- Floral shop sales
- Artist
- Artist Co-Op owner
- Nanny
- Sales clerk
- Secretary/administrator
The part of this list that astonishes me is the vast number of jobs I have had. In today's world it is all about millennials being self-serving and changing jobs with regularity, not satisfied, looking for something better, feeling entitled
The data shows a different story. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics:
The data shows two very obvious things – very few people have one job for their entire working adult life. In fact, the pattern seems to be a lot of jobs before your 25 and then a handful of moves until you start looking towards retirement.
To add a little color to the statistics, it's important to know two things:
- 4.2 years seems short but it's actually about middle of the pack compared to the last ten years. It was as high at 4.6 for 2012 and 2014, as low as 4.0 in 2006.
- The median changes based on age group. 55-65+ employees have been at it for 10.1-10.3 years. 45-55's median in 7.9 and the 25+ age group's median is 5.1.
I guess my job history is not so unusual. 10 jobs before and during college years, 3 during my main working years and 7 since retiring. Each jobs helped me to discover my skill set. Every one of these jobs connected me with people. And now I believe all those experiences are helping me to focus on Russ and his needs. You just never know how your jobs help you embrace life and its circumstances!