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What was your first job in Orange County?

by Suzanne
Monday, December 03, 2007

My first job, at fifteen, was working at Kentucky Fried Chicken on Warner and Bolsa Chica in Huntington Beach. Not very glamorous I know, but all of my friends worked there, which was really the only criteria for a first job--well, that and your parents willingness to drive you there.

The man who owned it was a WWII veteran named Bill who sported a neat flattop, high and tight. He drove an old, very old, burgundy Cadillac and looked a little like W.C Fields in polyester pants and a bolo tie. I can just see him now, all in brown, hunched over a large white plastic container, elbow-deep in macaroni salad (with gloves on, of course), mixing it with his ginormous hands.

Bill had a little dog named "Mimi" bequeathed to him by his late wife. He always said when "that dog" died he was going to sell KFC and travel the world. He acted like Mimi was a pest to him, but he hand-made a seat in his Caddie just for her and took her everywhere with him. You know the type of man, right? All rough and grumpy but, deep inside sensitive and thoughtful.

I went back to visit KFC when I was going to Golden West College and Bill was still there. Mimi had died years before, but he stayed on. He was very uncomfortable by my happiness to see him again. He asked if I still liked to take pictures (see...so thoughtful) and gave me a free pint of cole slaw when I left. I still think about him and wonder if he ever got to travel the world.

After KFC, I worked at the One Hour Photo Lab in the Westminster Mall through the rest of High School. Back then it was located right in the middle circle of the mall, above the food court. Working at the mall in High School was a prime job. My brother worked at Chess King at the same time and sometimes we would meet for a "Hot Dog On A Stick."

I was also a Ruby's girl for about three years until I moved away to go to college in San Francisco.

What was your first job in OC?

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7 Comments:

  • My first job was a canvasser for the California Democratic Party. I was 18 years old then. It was the 1984 Presidential election. I would go around to places in Santa Ana, with a clipboard, trying to register wannabe Democrats to vote. I quit after two weeks.

    The thing was that I was actually a registered Republican.

    It happened because I saw this job posting in the Pennysaver, but it didn't explain that it was for the Dems.

    But I took the job anyways because I needed a job, and anything would do. They paid me $1.00 per signup, and $4.00 per hour. But I would only earn the hourly rate if I met my quota. I figured that signing up people would be easy. WRONG!

    Signing up people to vote in Santa Ana was ridiculous. There were so many Mexicans there, and none of them wanted to talk to me. So, I focused on the white folks, and most of them were already registered.

    One day they sent me to the K-Mart in Santa Ana, on the corner of Bristol St and Edinger. Today, it's not K-Mart, something else. But I met another canvasser working the same place, and she was from the Republican Party. We got to talking, and she told me that they were paying $2.00 per signup, and guaranteed hourly rate, whether or not she met her quota.

    That just about deflated my perception of the Democratic Party.

    She herself explained that signing up people to vote was not the main goal of canvassing, it was delivering the message of the Party. You're just there to be visible in public, wear the pins, and remind people to "Vote for Reagan" or "Vote for Mondale".

    Those who didn't care about voting, wouldn't register, while those who did care about voting were already registered. I think the Dems knew this conundrum, and that's why they put a condition on the hourly rate. Basically, they just wanted a sucker like me to promote their party, and not expect me to sign up anyone. I never earned jack from them.

    But I never did promote the Democratic Party as a canvasser, or urged anyone to vote for Mondale. I just asked people to register, and tried to hit the quota. I quit after two weeks when I exhausted all ideas to get people to register.

    By Blogger Steve, at December 04, 2007 11:43 PM  

  • First job was Del Taco on Warner & Springdale. I lied about my age to get the job (was 15) and keep delaying the whole work permit thing for various reasons. I too am Chess King alumni....but I swear I never owned one pair of parachute pants.

    By Anonymous Chris, at December 05, 2007 11:30 AM  

  • Chris, what about one of those knit ties that are squared off at the bottom. My brother had one of those in yellow,**shudder** Or Angle Flights-- You know you had Angle Flights.
    Suzanne

    By Blogger Suzanne Broughton, at December 05, 2007 4:11 PM  

  • No angle flights...I swear.

    By Anonymous Chris, at December 05, 2007 5:01 PM  

  • My first job was working at the Reliance Dairy (drive through) on Bristol St near Myrtle in 1969. Made a whopping $1.35 an hour, but we ate a lot of free ice cream. It's still there but the neighborhood has changed a bit...

    By Anonymous Bob, at December 12, 2007 5:05 PM  

  • My first job was at Little Folks Shop in the Westminster Mall. They had a slide for the kids, but so frustrating because parents basically left the staff to watch them while they shopped. I don't think that it was there long. Remember when the food court was basically in the basement of the mall? I'm pretty sure I spent most of the money I made on my breaks!

    By Blogger DD Swenson, at March 10, 2008 6:28 PM  

  • I took my first part-time job as an 18 year-old usher/concessions worker at the Cinema West Theatre in Westminster. I am uncertain as to whether it still stands.

    Working the concessions was gross due to the "butter" that we used to pour over the popcorn, which inevitably ended up dripping onto the floor making a disgusting mess. Perhaps the part of my job that was most interesting to me as a very naive and un-worldly teenager was my duty to usher the X-rated movies. WOW! I got to watch "Last Tango In Paris", "Fritz the Cat", and the Candid Camera production called "What Do You Say To A Naked Lady?" Like I said, WOW! It was quite an education.

    Cyndi Wright

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at July 04, 2008 9:54 PM  

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