New Job Starts Tomorrow
By Ann LeFlore
@poehere (15126)
French Polynesia
August 16, 2017 6:24pm CST
I was 15 when I arrived in California from Hawaii. I spent two years with my uncle going to a private school in Hawaii. Now I wanted to live with my grandmother and finish school in California.
My grandmother was on a very low limited income and she couldn’t afford the different thing I needed for school. So my first job at the age of 15 was delivering newspapers and babysitting for neighbors. The going rate for babysitting was 50 cents an hour.
At school I applied for a work permit so I could work. My first real job was at Der Winerschnitzel. I was paid $1.70 an hour. I thought I was raking in the dough at this time. Each month they reviewed your performance and if you passed you were given a 2 cent raise.
Boy has times changed. My granddaughter babysits now for a neighbor and she is paid $10 an hour. A far cry from 50 cents an hour I was making. Today, the lowest paying job for working n a fast food joint is $10 an hour. Maybe it is more now.
Do you remember your first job and the low pay you received? Did you ever babysit for 50 cents an hour? Wow we are old now and it seems so long ago.
Actually tomorrow I do start a new job. I have been promoted to dog groomer. I help my friends who have Bichon dogs on the islands cut the dog’s hair. Now people are calling me and asking me to cut their dog’s hair. So now I am a hair groomer.
13 people like this
12 responses
@RichardMeister (5328)
• Otis Orchards, Washington
17 Aug 17
On the farm where I was raised I was paid $2 an hour for working in the hayfields during the summer plus $2 for helping milk the cows (about 1.5 hrs.) But my first job was working at the high school during summer vacation. I worked between my sophomore and junior year and between my junior and senior year. I painted the inside of the school, stripped and waxed the floors and sanded and refinished the hardwood floors. I was paid $1.40 an hour. In college I worked at a restaurant for $1.60 an hour. Here in the state of Washington we just passed a new minimum wage law. This year it is S11.00 Next year it will go up to $11.50. The following year it will go up to $12.00. The year after that it will jump up to $13.00. In Seattle they voted it up to $15.00 an hour. In the 70s I worked for a boat manufacture and was making $5.25 an hour and I had all kinds of money to spend.
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
22 Aug 17
@RichardMeister That is good wages. When I left to come to the islands I was making 42.55 an hour. That was 25 years ago. But, I was also in charge of 17 techs and we did our work in other countries. So we were compensated for this and I was in charge and had to teach them the new technology.
1 person likes this
@RichardMeister (5328)
• Otis Orchards, Washington
19 Aug 17
@poehere Isn't that crazy? I found a calculator that showed how much I would have to earn today to equal the $5.25 and it said about $22.00 an hour.
@JudyEv (325809)
• Rockingham, Australia
23 Aug 17
That's good you've been promoted. You must be a good dog groomer! 
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
24 Aug 17
I think I sort of fell into this one. I have Bichon's of my own and people love the way they look. They asked me who cut their hair and I said it was me. After this I cut a few friend's dog's hair and then they told others. Now it seems that a lot of people are asking me to do this for their dogs.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
24 Aug 17
@JudyEv I'm not really sure i will do this for long. I still have my 2 businesses that I run and operate for computer repair and hard drive recovery. I need to work for my clients too. This is sort of an extra side job I do when I have time.
1 person likes this
@1hopefulman (45123)
• Canada
17 Aug 17
I started my first job at about the same age and I used to work Friday night and all day Saturday and I wish I could remember how much I got but my parents let me keep the money and it was great to have some money to spend as we got no allowance for the chores we did at home. So, how much do you charge an hour to groom dogs?
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
17 Aug 17
@1hopefulman Varies between 2 to 4 hours depending on the length of the hair and how many knots are in it. My dogs take me around an hour because I take good care of them and keep their hair trimmed. I also brush them regulary so I don't have all the problems.
1 person likes this
@Tina30219 (81538)
• Onaway, Michigan
18 Aug 17
I babysat a lot myself growing up can't remember how much I was paid though but I know it was more than .50 an hour. My actual first real job was at a coney island restaurant I believe I made 1.75 an hour there. Here at our fast food restaurants they charge $11 an hour full or part time. Good luck on your new job I hope your first day goes well.
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
18 Aug 17
I own my own business here on the islands. I am a computer tech and data recovery specialist. However, I own a few Bichons and keep their hair cut. Some of my friends bring me their dogs to groom and cut their hair. Now word has spread and so many people are calling me to ask me to cut their dog's hair.
@Tina30219 (81538)
• Onaway, Michigan
18 Aug 17
@poehere Cool sounds like you have many talents and stay busy. That is good you are getting all kinds of calls from your friends to groom their dogs.
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
18 Aug 17
@Tina30219 Yes, it is something different. Between my work, the organic garden and now grooming dogs I am overly busy all the time. It is fun to stay busy.
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
22 Aug 17
I only received 50 cents an hour when I babysat. My granddaughter is getting 10 dollars an hour. You are so right, times have changed. It's a change to cut the dog\s hair and it is fun for me. I do get paid well for the 2 hours I spend there.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
22 Aug 17
@DianneN You are so right on this one. I guess I am good with dogs for some reason. Even the dogs I have never met before all fall in love with me. My girlfriend's dog just sat there like a baby in my arms. When I was cutting his stomach, he actually fell to sleep. It was very strange that he wasn't afraid when I cut his feet, legs, and face. Normally, if a don't doesn't know you he will get overly protective of his feet being touched. My dogs are used to this now because I cut them all the time. My other friend had another person cut her dog's hair and they ended up cutting the dog. Now when I have to cut their feet, she needs to hold them. They are getting better now and trust me more. But, yes, this is fun and I do like doing it. What makes my friend's laugh so hard is I won't talk to the dogs in French, but instead I use English. They think it is funny when I do this and they ask me what did I say. A lot of times I will say it in French first to see if the dog reacts or not, then I will repeat the command in English. For some reason the dog responds better to English command when I am cutting their hair.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
22 Aug 17
Thank you so much. This is sort of a side job because I own my own business here. I do it for my friend's and they tell others and now it seems like I have a lot of dog's hair to cut lately. Tomorrow I have 6 dogs to cut their hair. All are Bichon which are tiny dogs.
1 person likes this
@LovingMyBabies (85127)
• Valdosta, Georgia
16 Aug 17
I remember my first babysitting job when I was 13 years old. I made $4 per hour where we lived in NY. =)
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
16 Aug 17
That is not too bad for babysitting. Where I lived they only offered 50 cents an hour.
@Letranknight2015 (51532)
• Philippines
17 Aug 17
Expenses are high now a days, so the pay has to be higher. It wouldn't be fair or her if she gets paid 50 cents today, that's close to just doing it for free.
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
17 Aug 17
I understand this. I was just comparing back then to now.
@jstory07 (134465)
• Roseburg, Oregon
16 Aug 17
I remember getting a dollar an hour. That was my first job.
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
16 Aug 17
I guess I was lucky to make $1.70 an hour for my first job. I even got a pair raise each month of 2 cents.
@LeaPea2417 (36442)
• Toccoa, Georgia
18 Aug 17
I baby sat a little, but my first actual job was a gift wrapper at a department store that was located in a Mall. If I remember correctly the pay was the minimum wage which was a little over 3 dollars an hour at the time. Good luck with your dog grooming job.
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
18 Aug 17
This is sort of a fun side job for me. I own my own business or actually 2. One is for computer repair and the other is hard drive recovery. This is fun because the dogs belong to all of my friends and we have a good time when I am there.
1 person likes this
@PatZAnthony (14752)
• Charlotte, North Carolina
16 Aug 17
My babysitting days were short, and fortunately for me, a restaurant job is where most of my early employment years (as a teen) were spent!
@PatZAnthony (14752)
• Charlotte, North Carolina
18 Aug 17
@poehere Working as a teen was how money was available for me to buy clothes and any extras. It was great for me having a job during those early years.
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
18 Aug 17
@PatZAnthony I think it really taught me the values of life. My grandma didn't have a lot of extra money to buy me the things I needed so I worked and helped her out. I gave her money also from my pay checks and she refused to take it. She actually put it in an account for me.
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
16 Aug 17
I didn't do a lot of babysitting. When I first arrived in California it was summer and school was still a few months off. My grandma didn't have the money to buy me all I needed for school so the babysitting money really helped and I bought what I needed with it and the paper route money.
1 person likes this
@andriaperry (116860)
• Anniston, Alabama
17 Aug 17
Yes I baby sat but I worked by the week or the job,I cleaned houses, I did yard work all before old enough to work. I waited tables for $2.01 per hour at age 16 and had to make up to minimum wage in tips. I got tired of all that and set up my own business, now I am on the 3 rd. business as owner but I am slowly selling off the houses and I have a new idea that is more suited to me and my lifestyle now but I wont mention till I get it going.
@poehere (15126)
• French Polynesia
17 Aug 17
I just worked like this until I was 16. I was then hired by the government in their computer department. They paid me 4.25 an hour. After graduating I left the US to work on networks in other countries. I ended the job with them making over 30.00 an hour. Here on the islands I own 2 businesses, one is computer repair and the other is hard drive recovery. I normally make over 75.00 an hour now and work when it is best for me. I know what you mean working for yourself is a lot better than working for another. Good luck in your new adventure.
