Have you ever had a Menial Job? Especially before joining the Military?

2014-08-21T23:04:08-04:00

was listening to General Colin Powell talking to the President of High Point University and one of the points he mad is that to many kids today get everything handed to them. He said that as a youngster he had a job moping floors in a Coca Cola Bottling plant and it taught him that he did not want a job mopping floors in a Coca Cola Bottling Plant. He recommended that every child needed to have some type of menial job to make them appreciate a good education and the benefit of hard work to avoid menial work.

My most menial job was as a pin setter in a bowling alley. Yes, before the automatic things took over there were human beings picking up the pins and putting them out or in machines to drop into place. Got a whopping 10 cents a game I set the pins for too!

So, what was your most menial job before joining the Military? '

AND - this is what I wanted to ask more than anything else - would you recommend a menial for kids today? If so, what types?

Response by SFC Mark Merino made Aug 21 at 2014 11:07 PM

2014-08-21T23:07:50-04:00

There was no life before the military....trick question!

Response by LCpl Steve Wininger made Aug 21 at 2014 11:11 PM

2014-08-21T23:11:35-04:00

Before joining the Marines I worked as a janitor on the weekends cleaning a bowling alley. After the Marines I was hired in as an assistant mechanic working on the automatic pinsetters. I eventually went on to become a certified mechanic and worked as a district mechanic. Then I decided I had enough of the maintenance and mechanics fields, especially bowling, and quit to become a full time student.

CMDCM Gene Treants I never had to set them by hand, but heard a lot of stories from guys that had done that job. From what I hear, the military was a safer job.

Response by SFC Michael Hasbun made Aug 21 at 2014 11:12 PM

2014-08-21T23:12:47-04:00

I worked in a movie rental store, a tanning salon, a gas station, a supermarket meat department, I was a bus boy, a bag boy and a prep chef... I was a menial Renaissance man =)

Response by SFC Mark Merino made Aug 21 at 2014 11:27 PM

2014-08-21T23:27:50-04:00

I thought it was a prerequisite in life to either work at Burger King or McDonalds before the age of 17?? It was that love of being in uniform that made me the perfect fit for the military.

Response by PO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 22 at 2014 12:34 AM

2014-08-22T00:34:43-04:00

I started off as a cashier at a grocery store and moved into the bakery department. I was working 48 hours a week before I left for the service coming in at 4am to make the morning DONUTS!

Oh yeah.... and just last year, I took up a part time job doing janitorial work. $8.00 an hour. I would still be doing it if I weren't SO BUSY right now. I left on good terms and will eventually go back, but it's good part time, easy "get out of debt" money. $300 a month goes a long way when you're trying to get out of debt!

Response by MSG Wade Huffman made Aug 22 at 2014 5:21 AM

2014-08-22T05:21:06-04:00

Of course. I believe most of us have. I've worked in restaurants, on a road crew for the Dept. of Transportation, and in retail. You do what you have to do when you have to do it. I don't think there is anything derogatory about having a menial job. May not be the job you want, but it's a job!

Response by PO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 22 at 2014 7:01 AM

2014-08-22T07:01:33-04:00

Not sure if I had a menial job. Started my own neighborhood lawn service at the age of 12. My dad taught me the value of a dollar very early in life. He raised me and my brother with no help and worked 4-5 jobs to do it. He was a full time school teacher(now retired after 35 years), part time Fire Rescue/Marine Rescue, Head Swim Coach, during the summer he ran the Junior Life Guard program and was the 2nd in command of Marine Rescue during lifeguard season.

So as you can see learning to work hard was instilled very early. So I did the lawn service for a few years cutting your standard suburb size lot in St. Augustine Beach. At the age of 14 I decided to venture out working in restaurants as a prep cook, worked in the Surf Shop I rode for patching surf Boards, odds and ins like that. I didn't really need the money, I was lucky enough to be blessed with very good athletic skills and was sponsored for surfing and skating. I just like working and hanging out with people.

But with that said at 15 I was the youngest person in history hired on by St. Johns County Fire/Marine Rescue, I proved myself physically and mentally ready for the job during the selection process. I worked that job every summer, and was the Rapid Response Team LT during the off season (if there is such a thing in Florida) before I enlisted in the Navy at 18 in July 2001.

I came into the Navy knowing I wanted to do something that utilized my physical skills as well as my medical knowledge. I was a EMT before I enlisted and loved trauma medicine.

I guess the lawn service and restaurant time really just made me appreciate what I had and really I guess seeing my dad never quit. He was never afraid to take the challenged and thanked God everyday that he had the ability to work.

I took that mentality and have applied it to my work ethic. Always take the challenge and never back down. That is why I am a PT freak. A strong body equals a strong mind.

Response by SGT Richard H. made Aug 22 at 2014 8:53 AM

2014-08-22T08:53:04-04:00

I had menial jobs both before and after the Military. Perhaps the worst of all was working at a wood shop that made headboards for water beds (remember those?). We worked about 14 hours a day and my job was sanding. I would go home with my nostrils, ears, etc. packed with fine sawdust in spite of the cheesy paper masks we were given...all for the whopping pay of about $4.35/hr. The ones after the Army were not so bad, and I have advanced quickly in anything I did, which I can probably thank the Army for.

Response by CSM Allen Dahl made Aug 22 at 2014 9:07 AM

2014-08-22T09:07:44-04:00

Roger that, I worked as a butcher at a grocery store, poured concrete, worked in farmfields and about anything to keep gas in my 1974 Chevy Nova and a few bucks in my pocket.

Response by SN Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 22 at 2014 11:02 AM

2014-08-22T11:02:30-04:00

Second half of my high school years I was a bagger at a supermarket. By the time I turned 18 and thus was eligible for promotion to another job at the store I was only a couple months away from leaving the job to go to college anyway so they ended up not promoting me.

The summer before my final college semester I worked at a motel front desk and setting up their meeting rooms but management there had a "skeleton crew" of personnel so I had to do too much on my own and couldn't do it fast enough for them so I pretty much quit in lieu of being let go.

Even when I was an undesignated seaman painting and driving the ship it was still loads better than those other jobs!

Response by CPO William E. Mahoney made Aug 22 at 2014 11:51 AM

2014-08-22T11:51:01-04:00

I cleaned the heads (rest rooms for non sailors or marines) it was a nasty job and never wanted to do again but had to when I was a seaman onboard ship for less money. I do believe our younger generation should work doing menial jobs it helps build caricature and a desire for self betterment.

Response by LTC Jason Strickland made Aug 22 at 2014 12:23 PM

2014-08-22T12:23:47-04:00

I was a milkman while in college - delivering all of the 1/2 pints of milk and chocolate milk to cafeterias across the city.
Before that I was a "custodial engineer" in high school - ensuring the topnotch, best aroma, spotless looking lavatory facilities in our business!!

Response by SSG Keith Evans made Aug 22 at 2014 1:23 PM

2014-08-22T13:23:42-04:00

My first job was as a busboy for a popular local restaurant, later becoming a prep-cook. I was on my feet nonstop, and the pay was lousy but it taught me a few things. 1) I don't want to do this for the rest of my life. 2) Always look busy, even if nothing is going on. 3) Go to college!

Yes, I would thoroughly recommend menial jobs for kids! Every young adult should value hard work and the work/value that is attached to the money they earn. It should be somewhat crummy because that's how they can develop empathy for everyone who woks those jobs all of their lives. Someone has got to pack bottles, make burgers, wait tables and perform manual labor. But you should learn to never look down on those who do. I see that a lot with young kids coming up.

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made Aug 22 at 2014 1:32 PM

2014-08-22T13:32:25-04:00

Lets see... Collecting carriages and cleaning latrines among other things at the local supermarket through my HS & college years, paving driveways one summer, mowing lawns another summer, working in a bakery - I was rolling in dough those 2 years!

Response by 1LT Nick Kidwell made Aug 22 at 2014 5:27 PM

2014-08-22T17:27:52-04:00

I once worked at a feed mill. This was back in the days before Mad Cow disease caused changes in feed regulations, and one of the protein sources they used was blood meal. This was my Graveyard shift job, along with full-time college and full-time work in a hotel at the front desk.

My first week, another guy and I were sent down into the pit under the bloodmeal conveyer leg to clean up accumulated spillage. Normally, the bloodmeal was dried and was transferred from place to place via conveyer belt, but over time some had spilled out into a metal box (the pit) under the bottom of the leg and had accumulated.

Now, by the time we got sent to clean it up, the spillage had got wet, has started to go semi-liquid, and flies had laid eggs. So there I was, knee-deep in half-reconstituted animal blood, maggots crawling around, and it took about 2 hours to clean it out.

Never mind the smell...

Response by CPO Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 22 at 2014 7:53 PM

2014-08-22T19:53:04-04:00

Yes. Made the best of it and florished. Then decided to join the Navy, and they made me crank. I'd rather of had the menial job at the time. Sucked it up so i could do what i do now, so no regrets in the long run.

Response by LTC Hillary Luton made Aug 22 at 2014 8:13 PM

2014-08-22T20:13:29-04:00

Oh my gosh YES! Several in fact. That's probably I would never last more than a couple of years (if I made it that long) before I was so utterly bored I was going crazy.

But the reason I joined the military is to get an education. I grew up in the restaurant business (family owned) and the last thing I wanted to do was to remain in the business. I knew if I wanted to do anything I enjoyed, I needed to get my degree. So, like Powell, having a job in the restaurant business made me realize, I didn't want to spend the rest of my life in the restaurant business.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 22 at 2014 8:17 PM

2014-08-22T20:17:57-04:00

In order of employment-

Years and years of lawn mowing, laundry, cleaning, and splitting wood for my parents

Busboy/dishwasher

Line cook

Landscraper

Yes, I would recommend menial labor for every young adult. Get them to learn a little perspective, value, and determination. The dirtier the better.

Response by PO1 Rick Serviss made Aug 24 at 2014 5:02 AM

2014-08-24T05:02:13-04:00

I've done factory assembly line for a toy company, dish washing, super market. All were summer jobs to pay my way through college.

Response by BG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 24 at 2014 10:22 PM

2014-08-24T22:22:55-04:00

Fed calves, cleaned the barns and hauled tons...ad tons of hay

Response by PO1 G. Leslie /Stiltner made Sep 7 at 2014 8:46 PM

2014-09-07T20:46:55-04:00

MCPO Treants you are showing your age!! A pin setter?!! LOL But General Powell was so right. I work with kids every day that think they are capable of coming onto a job as the CEO!! I worked in the school cafeteria during my senior year in high school, scrapped trays and did dishes. Before that year I delivered papers every day and worked the summer in the laundry of a hotel. My younger brother an I also had several jobs doing yard work. I think that everyone needs to earn their way up the food chain and start at the bottom earning their way up!!

Response by SCPO Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 7 at 2014 8:56 PM

2014-09-07T20:56:47-04:00

CMDCM Gene Treants I was a janitor at an elementary school before I got out of high school. Probably one of the worst jobs I ever had.

Response by SSG Pete Fleming made Sep 7 at 2014 9:36 PM

2014-09-07T21:36:00-04:00

Menial Job... story of my life... I have been a door to door canvasser, I have painted houses, fences and such... put out those signs to draw attention to real estates properties... If I ever put everything down people would think I was lying...

Response by PO1 Shannon Drosdak made Sep 7 at 2014 10:06 PM

2014-09-07T22:06:42-04:00

Ugh where to start? Delivery driver for pizza places, news paper delivery and retail stores. I worked 3 jobs at one time to support my "just new" family. Myself a lazy (ex) husband and a newborn. All minimum wage jobs. No direction and no future for advancing so to say. So I joined up. I needed to take care of myself and my little one. So glad I did too!