First Job Series: Eugene Williams
First Job:
Bag/Stock Boy | Local Grocer
Age 15-16 | Minimum Wage
Responsibilities
I bagged groceries, delivered groceries and worked on one of the overnight stocking crews.
Why this job?
It chose me. I couldn’t drive when I started; it was about 20-minutes from my house and my parents drove me after school.
Best Memory
There were a bunch of us high school and college students that worked there. The atmosphere was electric with funny, crazy stuff all the time. Working along the Gulf Coast wasn’t really work.
Life Lesson
This was a family business and it was being run by the older son. There were a couple of stores and about four warehouses. He had the uncanny knack of being able to know where everything was in each of those locations. To this day, I pride myself on knowing the answer, because I learned that from him at an early age.
Teen Advice
Don’t start working—stay with your parents as long as you can. Once you take on responsibility, you become responsible and somewhere down the road that leads to accountability and before you know it, they give you authority and once you have authority, responsibility and accountability, you’re stuck with that thing called “life.” My advice is to quit before you start.
