Day 19 -- My First Job

Today's prompt is... My First Job

I think technically, my first job was babysitting at the ripe old age of 12. How people trusted their infants with a 12-year old in the early 80's is beyond me. But, we all managed to survive, and the money was good!

Fast forward a few years to 1989... my first real job was at a place called Tropicana Tan Hut. Yes folks, my first job was at a tanning salon. I think I was making something like $3.50 an hour -- that seemed like big bucks to a teenager! I don't remember how many hours a week I worked. I can't imagine it was a lot because I was going to school as well.

My duties included: opening/closing up the building, answering phones, scheduling appointments, washing/drying/folding towels, cleaning tanning beds, taking out the trash, tidying up the store front...

As long as you worked there, you got free tanning for yourself, because you wanted to being a walking billboard for where you worked, right? After I'd close up the store, I'd get in the tanning bed. It was always my fear that I'd fall asleep & wake up in there the next morning. Ha!

Ah, the 80's... where a perk of your job was to possibly get skin cancer.