It seems a lot of us did the gas station job. A great one for a HS kid. I did that for two years at $1.25/hour 1967-69 and bought a Yamaha Twin Jet 100 motorcycle for $300.
Then went to work for Sears as a "gofer" for the service techs in the heating and A/C section while in community college. It was more than minimum wage but not by much. Full time during the summer and worked in the office evenings two or three days a week when school was in.
Then got hired by the county PD and didn't know what to do with all that money - $11,500 a year! Half again what my Dad made just before he passed away. Interesting side story:
I was still living at home during the academy training, didn't have a bank account, so when I needed more gas/lunch money I'd just take another paycheck off the dresser, cash it at the local bank and just use that until the money ran out, then cash another. The academy was a "total immersion" experience for about six months - classes/range/driving all day and studying 3-5 hours every night, all day Saturday and half of Sunday so there wasn't time for spending money.
Well, the paychecks sort of accumulated so toward the end of the class I had a small pile of them. The Sgt. went to the front of the class one morning and asked me to stand.
Sgt.: We received at call from the county finance office about you.
Me: What about, sir?
Sgt.: You have too many outstanding paychecks and you're screwing up their account reconciliations. They ask that you please cash your paychecks.
Bearing in mind that a lot of classmates were married and had children so were struggling on that paycheck, I got a lot of strange looks. Some of them asked if I was independently wealthy. Not by any stretch, but by the time the academy ended in August of 1973 I had about $3,500 in my new bank account. That was more money than I'd ever seen.
Then went to work for Sears as a "gofer" for the service techs in the heating and A/C section while in community college. It was more than minimum wage but not by much. Full time during the summer and worked in the office evenings two or three days a week when school was in.
Then got hired by the county PD and didn't know what to do with all that money - $11,500 a year! Half again what my Dad made just before he passed away. Interesting side story:
I was still living at home during the academy training, didn't have a bank account, so when I needed more gas/lunch money I'd just take another paycheck off the dresser, cash it at the local bank and just use that until the money ran out, then cash another. The academy was a "total immersion" experience for about six months - classes/range/driving all day and studying 3-5 hours every night, all day Saturday and half of Sunday so there wasn't time for spending money.
Well, the paychecks sort of accumulated so toward the end of the class I had a small pile of them. The Sgt. went to the front of the class one morning and asked me to stand.
Sgt.: We received at call from the county finance office about you.
Me: What about, sir?
Sgt.: You have too many outstanding paychecks and you're screwing up their account reconciliations. They ask that you please cash your paychecks.
Bearing in mind that a lot of classmates were married and had children so were struggling on that paycheck, I got a lot of strange looks. Some of them asked if I was independently wealthy. Not by any stretch, but by the time the academy ended in August of 1973 I had about $3,500 in my new bank account. That was more money than I'd ever seen.
