FIRST JOBS

So after you start to read enough Net Worth Blogs you start to notice certain similarities that pop up in this niche scene.

The frequency of lawyers, engineers or computer types. The compulsive frugality and thinly veiled narcissism that makes people want to not only leer at each others intimate numbers, but post our own for the world to see.

I suspect another less obvious trait shared by most of us.

If we were to think back to our very first jobs, I bet we find a certain vein of creative adolescent greed and ingenuity. I’m talking about the jobs that predate any sort of formal work for a paycheck. I’m talking about the childhood hustles, let me give 2 of my examples.

The first business I ever started was ‘Bug Busters‘.

This was the 1980’s when Suburban America was smack in the middle of an unparalleled ‘Japanese Beetle Bug’ infestation that was reeking havoc on the yards of this once great land. To be clear, I am talking about the time before the Green and Yellow bags you put in your yard from the hardware store that virtually wiped the little bastards out inside of a year. There was no chemical cure in sight and it was driving our Dads to tears watching their once green lawns turn brown with clumps of mating beetles.

Have no fear for ‘Bug Busters‘ was there.

I would knock on your door and for $5 cash in hand I would troop around your yard, filling my bucket of hot soapy water with all of your little Asian invaders until we were both satisfied that I had killed a worthy amount for the price paid. I even had a T-shirt made up with Gold lettering on a Blue background with a picture of ants (no readily available image of the true enemy at the time, this was before Al Gore invented the internet).

The second business was also a service provided to those in need.

I would go to Bingo halls with a very specific target population in mind. I looked for the ladies playing a minimum of six cards simultaneously. Then I tried to narrow down which ones looked most likely to be in need of a snack from the concession stand. I would offer my concierge services. Everybody got something, she got her nachos and I got a tip. The perfect symbiotic relationship.

My point is, if we shared our stories from these time frames in our lives, I’d bet all my bingo tips we have a shared experience or two. Those folks on the knitting blogs did not invent ways to make money like we did. Right?

This Post won a Contest on RockStar Finance for ‘Craziest Side Job‘