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I was inspired by someone else's journal entry to write about the jobs I have had.

Bells: I worked as a cashier in the grocery store in town. This was before the days of scanners, so we had to key everything in by hand. It wasn't a bad job, really. I knew pretty much everyone who came through my line, and I worked with a lot of my friends. One time, Molly and I got stuck working a 12 hour shift (wasn't that against child labor laws?) and by the end, we were so delirious that we were joking about ducking under our register or lying down on the conveyer belt to take a nap. The bad part was that I made minimum wage. So I left that job to take one at...

Van Zile Travel: This was literally the best job I ever had. I was an assistant at a travel agent. I got paid more than minimum wage, which in high school was a big deal. All I had to do was prepare the mail, take it to the post office (which was about 100 yards away), get the incoming mail, take it back and open it, and file all the brochures. Also, I would answer the phones, and cover the office so my boss could run errands. When I went to take the mail out, I would drive and then spend about half an hour just cruising around town aimlessly. Plus, my boss taught me how to use the SAABRE computer system to book flights. And my boss loved me! I had to give this job up though, because the office wasn't doing so well (and has since been closed) and they couldn't afford me anymore. So, the summer before I went to college, I got a job at...

McDonalds: This wasn't as bad as people make it out to be. Plus I got free food. I only worked there 3 months, and I got 3 promotions. I started out manning the register in front. Then I got promoted to drive-thru. Drive-thru is the best job because you just sit there and take orders over the little headset, punch them in to the register and then collect the money. Except when it was slow, you had to do dishes which kind of sucked. Finally, just before I left, they had me calling grill, which means during rush times I stood in front of the grill and told the grillers what to make and how many. It felt kind of like being an air traffic controller. The weirdest thing that happened was that a naked man came through the drive-through. When he paid at the window, he had pants on, but when he got to the second window, he was naked with a giant erection. I was 17 years old and I had never seen such a thing in my life. I didn't notice at first, until I leaned out the window to give him his food. I turned around and looked at my co-worker and yelled out, "Holy shit! That guy's naked!" She ran to the door to try and get his license plate number, but he was already gone. What kind of freak goes through the McDonald's drive-thru butt nekkid? Then I went to college, and after freshman year, I spent the summer working at...

Genesee Farms: This was a combo convenience store, ice cream shop and restaurant. I closed most nights (we closed at midnight but the clean-up meant I didn't get home until about 2 a.m. most nights). The job wasn't bad, but because I worked a lot of nights and weekends, I didn't get to hang out with my friends very much. Molly claims that this job was the reason she started dating her husband - she was bored because I was gone all the time! Of course, it all worked out for the best since they fell in love and got married and all. The next summer, I worked at...

Hilti: I got this job through a temp agency. After Van Zile, this was the 2nd best job. The company had a traveling sales force that sold power tools and the like. So customers would call the 800 number, and I would answer the phone and take a message. Then once a day, the salesmen would call in and get their messages from me. Sometimes I would also do order entry, filing or make copies. Most of the time, I just sat there and read books or did crossword puzzles. And my boss bought me lunch almost every day. The next summer, I worked at...

LeMoyne College Library: I started working at the library during my junior year of college, at the Media Services desk. I handed out the microfilm and microfiche, and hooked people up with videos and audiotapes. Over the summer, I decided to stay up at school and work in the library over the summer. I was a really bad employee. I goofed off all the time. Our summer task was to shift the entire collection, to maximize the available space and make room for future books. Unfortunately, the director of the library (who hated me) kept changing the spacing, so we had to go back and reshift the collection like three times. However, this was a memorable job, mostly because it's where I met Jim. After I graduated, I worked for...

Various Temp Agencies: I moved in with Terry and Pam after graduation and took a temp job to try and make enough money to pay rent. This job sucked. I worked for a contractor's office, typing up (literally on a manual typewriter in 1994) contracts. The boss was a super anal freak, so any mistake meant I had to redo the whole form. White-out was not allowed. My first day, it took me 11 times to do one form. I was always on time for this job, if not early. One day, I went home for lunch. On my way out, I ran into my landlord and he was talking to me. I ended up being about 5 minutes late back, and the boss called me in and scolded me, even though I apologized and explained why I was late. He offered me a full time job there when my assignment was up, and I turned it down because I couldn't imagine being that annoyed every day. So I moved home with my parents and got a job at...

Borders: I started working at the store in Rochester, then transferred to Syracuse when that store opened. After working for about 9 months as a bookseller, I got promoted to Community Relations Coordinator. After doing that for a year, I got a promotion to the corporate offices, where I stayed for 2 years. It was a great experience, but I'm also glad I left and moved back to New York State. I do miss the free books, though. And I miss the people I worked with quite a bit. Although some of them have also left.

So now I am working as a Graduate Assistant, which varies widely depending on which professor I am working for. Some are great, some are not so great. But frankly, it's never that hard and the money's not bad. It allows me to not have to get another job while going to school, which is a luxury I know few people can afford, so I am eternally grateful for that.