First Jobs Pay Wages of a Different Type 

Teenager students holding jobs continue to the background like vinyl tops on automobiles and the number two pencil used to rewind your favorite cassette tape.

According to Statista, the number of students employed while also attending school continues to drop – pandemic or no pandemic. Thirty-one percent of students held jobs in 1998 compared to 19.4 percent in 2019 (I’m omitting the 17.6 pandemic number for comparison). The days of afterschool employment – and the critical skills one learns doing them – continue to erode in front of our eyes. And for that, I worry.

I mention after running across a young man sacking my groceries. His hair, obviously with a mind of its own, and his infectious personality reminded me of how valuable a part-time job at his age played in my life and others. At the same time, the minimum wages were appreciated, working exposed me to a broad diversity of people, the brunt of an angry boss, and the learning of self-reward from hard work.

“So, how is your day going,” he said.

I replied good; I’d be taking the day easy after a road trip.

Here is where he separated himself from others.

“Really? Where to?”

“A short trip to the Hill Country,” I said.

“Business of pleasure?”

He never broke eye contact, nor did I feel he was prying. His emotional intelligence was off the chart good. While packing, his attention remained genuine while he filled the bags like a Tetris master.

I told him a bit of both, and he smiled.

I thought of myself at his age when speaking to a stranger in public made me so uncomfortable. The first time the local pizza place asked me to move from the make table to the register, I probably froze on the spot. But, after a few hundred hungry strangers, the ice melted, and I began a long, slow journey of meeting and talking with people in a business environment.

I also remember bosses shouting, “if you’ve time to lean, you’ve time to clean,” or the time when my landscaping crew boss yanked me out of lunch to rip my morning work apart – learning humiliation leads to humility.

The young man continued engaging. His sense of ease in managing a conversation was that of a fully-formed adult, one understanding both the skill and art of conversation.

Taking my credit card from the reader, I thanked him and pushed my cart outside. Walking across the asphalt, I hear someone behind me. Turning around, I saw the young man holding a small bag.

“Sir, these cards were pushed to the side,” he said. “I apologize.”

Again, I recalled how critical lessons learned at such a young age permeate your life. While some experts point to over-scheduling children to polish their college applications, others challenge the number of opportunities. I’m certainly not able to nail the answer, but I know that the lessons I learned outside the classrooms proved equally valuable as those tucked away inside textbooks.

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