Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

I was reading YinkusLoLo's blog where she blogged about how people perceive certain jobs that we do in this country i.e Cab driver/Fast food worker etc etc and all in all, it made me think of the topic of 'Jobs'.

I've been subject to a serious background check which entailed that I list all the jobs that I've had in the past 10 years and my oh my, I actually had to sit and think about that one. You see, in my 10 years or so that I've been in this country, I've worked a total of approx 18 jobs or more sef
*Gasp*...18 jobs in 10 years shey? Blame it on the restlessness. As my aunt used to say to be back in the day...'Na only you wan collect all the jobs in this America'. As in, at the end of the Tax year, while my mates were filing taxes with just one W-2, I'd have 3 or 4. LOL
My current job is the longest that I've ever been anywhere and that's because it's a 'real' job as opposed to the random stints that I did during my college years.



My first job in this country was at KFC. Worked there for 1.5 months and I was O-U-T...after that I swore that I'd never do another fast food job. But working that job definitely taught me to be nice to people in the fast food industry...it's certainly not easy to maintain your cool when you deal with customers who talk smack to you because they see you flipping burgers or frying chicken.
Surprisingly, I remained a broomstick while I worked there despite my daily lunches of crispy chicken and biscuits.
I still very vividly remember my shock when I received my 1st paycheck...as in I was told that I would be making $6.25/hr and I had already calculated it well well o. I was like ok with this $$ that I'm expecting, I'm finna do this and that...only to receive my check and I was like NA LIE. This one na real ojoro...I went to my manager and told him that my check was short, that I worked X amount of hours...etc etc. Bwahahahhahaha, long story short, that was my introduction to American taxes. Chei!!!

I've also worked a lot of retail jobs. You name it: Victoria Secret (My lingerie collection was bangin' back in the day...I was also really good at getting people to open their Angel credit cards), Ann Taylor, The Limited, Ross dress for Less, Rugged Wearhouse...*I know there's more but I don forget*

I've worked at an ear piercing store/jewelry store where we had to make daily sales and I learned how to pierce ears. I remember my first piercing experience...I was shaking.
Come to think of it, I wasn't too terrible at getting people to buy Jewelry either. Now, I remember the name...Piercing Pagoda.

I've worked at department style stores i.e the famous AMES that went out of business (I had some real ghetto fabulous coworkers who used to constantly gist me of their sex lives...I will always remember how 2 of them came into work the next day talkin' bout they met up with some dudes who just got out of jail and had the best sex ever as per the dudes were catching up for lost time...*SMH*), CVS (where one of my managers was constantly trying to feel up on me. Apparently no one read me the sexual harrassment policy; and I flipped out on another manager and quit), IKEA...(It was a temporary gig but they had a good discount).

I've worked at a Sprint Customer service typa place. Well, I just worked there for 1 week and bounced. The hours were just ridiculous! 3pm-11pm 6 days a week.

I've done the Admin/Office jobs/College Work Study jobs too. Part time steez when I started feeling too grown and sexy for retail.

I've worked at a Clutch & Brake company where it appeared that I was the hottest thing walking. Imagine an environment filled with sweaty mechanics and ish, and the only other female was this 60 year old woman. Every friday, those men were always all too eager to come get their paychecks so they could make small talk with me. LOL

Of course, I did a couple of internships in my college major. At this point I really felt like I upgraded my life...Ha! Internships in my field definitely didn't pay bad at all for college kids. A far cry from the KFC days. :-p

*Racks brain*

I absolutely can not remember the rest of those my lil part time jobs ooo. LOL...but there you have it, I've had a 'range of experiences' on the job front.
Working all those years of retail certainly taught me the following things:

• Be nice to sales associates.
• Take your clothes out of the fitting room after trying them on...it is an absolute witch trying to clean up at the end of the night. I mean sometimes we'd close at 9 and I'd get home at 11 (Well, I used to catch the bus so factor in travel time sha o).
• Don't friggin' try on 10 things and walk out of the store with nada. Mchewwww....lol

And of course, that kinda fueled my shopping habit with all them discounts and all. I especially loved that Rugged WearHouse stint...talk about brand names for less. I remember snagging this BabyPhat jacket for $30 (when BabyPhat was cool), Express baffs for like $10 or less...and my all time favorite Tommy bright yellow bubble jacket that my friends still make fun of. Whatevs to y'all, I was absolutely killing it. :-D

All in all, it's always fun to reminisce, look back and those good ol' days, look at where I am in life right now and thank God. e no easy at all o!