What was your first job, and what film/book/song/etc. do you most associate with it?
My answer:
Not including a somewhat mysterious paper route (where I don't remember getting paid, paying for the papers I delivered but do remember getting attacked by a dog named Shep), my first real job was dish washer extrodinaire at Glenbrook Country Club. Glenbrook was an interesting place, as it didn't have an actual golf course and was being run by a woman who had won the establishment in a divorce ruling from her ex-husband. I ended up working there all through high school and on into college until the place finally went under from poor management.
Contrary to the dismal fast-food or retail places where many of my friends worked, Glenbrook was actually a fun place to punch a time card. Nearly all the guys I worked with were good friends, I got to eat great food every night and the pay was good. At a time when minimum wage was just under 5 dollars, I started at $7 an hour and eventually was making $9 an hour once I was promoted to a staff waiter. The hours were long (some weekends I'd fit in 40 hours in 3 days, including a few epic 18 hour Saturdays from 7 AM - 2 AM) and I had to wear my monkey suit all night but I don't remember ever feeling the woeful, pointless despair that jobs later in life would inspire.
There was Andy, the portly general manager and head chef, who was one part jolly, one part pervert and one of the smartest guys I ever met (his letter of recommendation helped me get into college). Phil, the one-legged vietnam vet who used to ride motorcycles in the "ball of death" cage in the circus and took great pleasure in nicknaming me "No Coat", which didn't really bother me even though he wanted it to. (I earned the nickname because on cool days, I would often not wear a coat. Brilliant). Mike Pelkey worked alongside me and was bestowed the nickname "Beanpole", which he absolutely hated but was fairly accurate at the time. Rounding out the cast of characters: Rob, Jerry H, Jerry B, Neal, Jeff Pirog, David C, Steve the one-handed bartender and the infamous Mikey "Shitpants" Shultze.
Besides the incredible food, the other obvious perk was that (in most cases) I was at a celebration every day. People were in good moods, some from being hammered, some from the sheer joy of the party, and it always made for interesting people watching. And when it comes to the question originally posed at the beginning, the song I would associate with the experience: I Want to Be Sedated by The Ramones. The reason? We had a house DJ who was one of the best in the business and late into the more pumpin' parties, he'd play I Want... as a secret code for the staff to get on the floor and dance. Mike P. and I even went as far as to coordinate a very silly but effective dance routine to the song, which won us fans by the hoards (the advantage of performing in front of a drunk audience). Not only was it fun and a break in the day, our sweet moves often earned us bonus tips. So that's it-- that was my Job 1.0, beta version. As I moved on to more professional jobs, some were good, some were bad but none were probably as fun on a day-to-day basis as the 'Brook was. At that time in my life, it was the perfect setting -- I wouldn't want to do it nowadays, of course, but I think I could still bust out the Sedated dance with stunning accuracy.
