What was your first paying job as a teenager? I worked at a pizza joint, How about you??

[wishstar]

197. Age 14 through 17 picked cherries for $.50 a pail

For several weeks each June/July I would ride my bike to orchards outside of town, show the owner my state work permit and go to work climbing tall ladders with a pail strapped across my shoulder. No dwarf trees back then. I mostly picked sweet cherries and could eat all I wanted and only had a few days of picking sour cherries. Very few local kids wanted to do the job because it wasn't easy and the spray used on the trees was sticky so it was a dirty job. Cherries are still my favorite fruit that I eat by the bagful daily this time of year and whatever was in the spray hasn't hurt me yet! Might have just been dormant horticultural oil.
Most of the other workers were black migrant laborers originally from Florida, Georgia or SC who came to upstate NY to pick fruit in summer and fall. I enjoyed listening to the conversations.

Best money I made as a teen because in our rural area there were no other jobs for teens besides lawn mowing and babysitting and I could make $10 to $15 per day back starting in late 1960's.