My Life Monday (or Wednesday)...The Labor That Is My Life

Rachelle has given us a new topic for my life Monday. Jobs we have had. I am not going to bore you with the mundane details of babysitting before I had an actual tax-paying job. Here you go.


Server at a retirement home Lovely job this was. I was fourteen and allowed to work because I got off before seven and could only work two nights a week and one day on weekends. I loved the old ladies with all of their stories and sparkly jewelry and funky old lady hats. Only old ladies can get away with such things. I hated the old men that would slap my behind, leave lugies in teacups and write sadistic messages about killing birds on napkins. I don’t miss that cumber bund and bow tie one bit! I worked here from the day after I turned 14 until I turned 16.


Sales girl at a woman’s clothing store called Stuarts Which is kind of weird since I never actually sold anything. I mostly arranged displays, opened merchandise, cashiered, closed up the store, and busted shoplifters. I got a KILLER discount and used it often. I quit when upper management decided that I was going to have to work on Sundays which was not kosher with me.


Scoopee/Night Manager at Nielsen’s Frozen Custard Ahhhh, one of my favorite jobs. I made concretes (shakes), grinders (sandwiches) and custard cones for a living. It was the BEST job EVER! I loved my boss, I loved that ALL of my best friends worked there (Itybty) and I loved that half of my aunts and my grandma worked there. We would make all kinds of nonsensical flavors and we had so many ways to make dips out of pepper sauce, cream cheese and shredded ham. THIS was the high school job to have. I think I have slight hearing loss due to working around a custard machine, but it is a small price to pay for the love and the memories I have. When the main owner decided to sell out to Einstein’s Bagels, we were all let go. I got a phone call on a Sunday night telling me to never come back. Sad, sad day that was. This job bridged my high school and university days. I loved that boys that I would meet in a class would just “happen” to stop by to get a sandwich or ice cream and they would end up staying for hours. LOVED IT!!!!


B.E.S.T. sales girl I KILLED at this job. I was hired on right after NFC closed as a Christmastime seasonal gal. I was good. I think my people skills skyrocketed prior to this job. I was making a ton in sales and I LOVED flirting with all of the returned missionaries that worked there. It wasn’t what I wanted to do long term, so when I found my next job, it felt SO good when the manager asked me what it would take to make me stay.


Floor Manager at a Children’s Museum A guy named Wayne (with whom I later dated) was in my history class. I thought he was cute from the first time that I met him. However it took me dating half of the class to finally get him to notice me. He asked me to be in a study group and I went. We didn’t study much. I told him I was looking for a job and he told me about his at the museum and then that they were hiring. I went, was interviewed and hired on the spot. My dear, favorite friend Ity was still looking for a job as well and I told the director about her. At the museum, the still call this the “Ity and Stephanie Era.” We were legends. We both met our husbands while working at the museum, we both got married while working here, we both dumped the missionaries that we were waiting for while at this job. We both experienced college life and became more crafty, creative and knowledgeable about kids than we had ever been before. I made SO many lifetime friends at this job. We were able to dress up all of the time. My favorite was the Fairy Tale Ball. Let me tell you, Ity made a BEAUTIFUL Beauty from the real story of Beauty and the Beast, and I made an amazing Maid Marian and my husband was a gorgeous Robin Hood. I remember right after I got married and birth control made my uh, hum, chest grow. I had to be Cinderella at the Enchanted Woods that year. The dress fit my waist just fine; however I had more than my fair share of spillage that year. It was really embarrassing with all of these dads coming through. It took me a long time to like kids after this job.


Newborn Ear Tester/Insurance Billing After I had been married a while, it became clear that we might need insurance and that one day I wanted kids and I wanted to like them. I knew that I needed to get an office job. I worked part-time at the Museum and part-time testing newborn ears with the promise of being able to move to insurance billing office work. I loved holding those tiny babies. I still liked babies you know. They didn’t run and scream and whine. They just smelled divine and I rarely had a crier. Once one of the office girls husbands transfer came through, she left. I hated insurance billing. I hated arguing with the insurance companies about everything. I hated having promise of payment and then not getting it. I hated having to collect on brand new parents that had to pay a bill and could barely afford diapers. I hated that snooty girl Jennifer that I had to spend all of every day with. Ugggh! She told me daily how my hair didn’t have any style(it was all one length) and that the colors I picked to wear were ugly on me. I would ask her how her weekends were and she would say something snotty like “I would tell you but then you would know too much!” Well honey, living at your parents and staying in your room was way more information than I needed.


Cashier at Bath and Body Works This was a “fun” job that I got while still working at the audiologist. I needed to do have something fun in my life while I was working with obnoxious Jen. I loved the discount. I quit when I witnessed my boss stealing from our deposit bag. Then I told the regional manager. I just wanted to quit while it was still happening so that it wouldn’t come down on me. She was sent to jail a few months later.


Member Service Rep/Team Leader at Utah’s Largest Credit Union I had finally had enough of Miss 30-years old and still living with mommy and daddy, holier-than-thou, my-straw-hair-is-better-than-your-healthy-mane girl and applied and landed this job. I doubled what I was making and I got KILLER benefits. I went in one day, told the office manager that I was done because of toxic Jen, told Jen I was making more than her and to have a nice, pitiful life and never went back. I had so much fun at this job. I was an ideal employee. I was courteous to all the members. I was prompt and on top of my research. I won awards every six months. I believe they called it an SAR award that basically doubled my bonus. I was called in to do special projects. I made SO many friends at this job too. I loved how social it was and how important I felt. My boss was fantastic and I had grown up with our assistant manager. I finally quit when I had M. I really missed working and the people there.


Work-at-home-mom The best job a girl could ask for! I am living my dream of what I always wanted to be when I grew up! I love my girls and I love seeing them light up when they are happy. I love consoling them when they are sad. I love dressing them up and doing their hair. I love taking them places and making things with them. I love talking to them and listening to them. I feel that every job that I had has led up to where I am now. I don’t include the house work in all of this because I did that before I was a mom, and before I was a wife. It just wasn’t on such a larger scale. I feel like my real work are these beautiful people that I grew and am raising. They are the best job any person could have.


There you have it. Go to Rachelle’s place to see what labors others have done.