New Year: Old Me. Here are a few of my firsts. What about yours?
First Vacation: Hershey and Lancaster, Pennsylvania when I was 9 years old. The trip ended abruptly when the area was hit by flash floods. Thus began a long line of natural and man-made disasters that seemed to accompany our family vacations!
First Car: A forest green 1972 Chevy Nova, but it was actually my Dad's. After three years of driving it, it came to its demise when I was in my first car accident at the age of 19 where I was t-boned in an intersection. No one was hurt and I still don't believe it was my fault, even though I was cited.
First Job: Besides babysitting, I worked in a receiving room for a discount designer clothing chain from age 17-20. I did everything from loading trucks to ticketing clothing to setting up their first computer's mailing list. Some of the worst people I've ever known were through this job and is the reason I didn't encourage my own kids to take just any job at that age.
First Crush: Jamie in the second grade. A skinny blond boy who sat in front of me and would race me to see who could get our worksheets done the fastest. Currently, friends on facebook!
First Kiss: Age 15 on a picnic table at Geauga Lake Amusement Park. Both picnic table and park are long gone, but I'm sure if you stood in that spot, you'd feel the heat. Fun Fact: One of my favorite photographers, Seph Lawless, has featured the park in some of his books.
First Plane Ride: Age 14 from Albuquerque to Denver on Frontier. My mom thought the plane was going down because of turbulence, but being a novice flyer, I thought the bumpy ride was normal.
First Lobster Tail/Fancy Dinner: After a two-day job interview process, I, with six other applicants, was seated with the Vice President of stores. None of us knew how to politely eat our meals, while still maintaining eye contact and answering questions. What a waste, but I got the job.
First Apartment: I've written before about the room I rented in a house with six strangers in college, but my first apartment was a one bedroom in a one level building in a very bleak and desolate city that I was transferred to with the above mentioned job. The place must have had no insulation, because my electric heating bills were astronomical and I had the thermostat set to 58 degrees. I wore a hat and mittens to bed. Not kidding. I stuck it out for 10 months.
First Record: Besides children's 45's, the first record I bought with my own money was 'Philadelphia Freedom' by Elton John.
First Pet: I had a few goldfish as a kid, but that was it. Don't feel sorry for me because I'm not a fan of taking care of things! Shocking that I had kids, right?
First Concert: Rick Springfield, which is not so cool, but with 'Special Guest' opener, Sparks, which was VERY cool at the time. Even my son is impressed with that!
Sounds like the job wasn't one to ever repeat. haha not so shocking that you had kids, but shocking that they survived.
ReplyDeleteMy kids could tell you stories, for sure! LOL!
DeleteI think I've forgotten a lot of my firsts.
ReplyDeleteBut not the car!
DeleteMy first car was a '79 Chevette that I bought when I got my first 'big-boy' job as an engineer.
ReplyDeleteI had a paper route when I was 11-12, and I washed dishes when I lived in the dorm. While I was in grad school, I had a job as a teaching assistant, which is probably the closest thing to my first 'real' job. . .
And I paid for my first plane ride with my pay from that teaching job, to go to Chicago for Christmas. Because I could. . .
My first record was a 45 by the Beatles, which I wheedled my parents into buying for me after they were on Ed Sullivan (the Beatles, not my parents). All My Lovin', maybe?
Yeef! I forgot about working for Manpower the summer between high school and college. That was an education you could never pay for. . .
DeleteI guess my first real car that I bought (with a car loan) was a 1985 Mazda GLC (which stood for Great Little Car). Oh boy, I haven't heard anyone mention Manpower in years! I had a friend that worked for them. I'm sure you could write quite a post on that topic!
DeleteAlready did. . .
DeleteMy first car was a 1966 Pontiac Le Mans (the first cousin to a GTO), and my first real job was in the meat market for a grocery store just down the street from my high school. I did a lot of odd jobs and lawn mowing before that.
ReplyDeleteif I say any more it will probably turn into a whole post lol.
Working n the meat department does NOT sound like a job I'd enjoy! But if it was a union job, at least you made more than the minimum wage.
DeleteOMG....I LOVE this post!
ReplyDelete"A forest green 1972 Chevy Nova, but it was actually my Dad's"
HA! I flipped when I read that because a 1972 Chevy Nova was MY first car as well, I kid you not! The only difference is that mine was beige instead of forest green. However, many years later I also had a forest green car which was a Geo Metro. I loved that car!
LOVED reading about your first time flying too! My first flight I was age 15 (1971), from Philadelphia to Miami, Florida on National Airlines. Those were those white planes with yellow and orange stipes and a BIG orange and yellow sun on their tales.
My first job was at McDonald's.
FUN post, my friend! Have a faaaaaabulous weekend!
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I'm laughing just thinking about us both tooling around town in our Chevy Novas! 😂
DeleteI don't remember National Airlines, but then again, I was shocked when Frontier started flying out of Cleveland a few years ago, because I thought they no longer existed. And how have you never written a post about working at Mickey D's???
What a great meme, I think I shall copy it! Your first apartment sounds grim, but I had a bedsit that was probably grimmer. It had one tiny gas fire and that was it. I had so many layers on my bed at night, they weighed a ton. The building was also chronically damp.
ReplyDeleteI vowed to never rent at a place with electric heat again! Awful. And yes, I would enjoy your answers to these famous firsts!
DeleteMy first job besides babysitting was working at a laundrymat. It was interesting. My first place wasn't an apartment it was a 1 room trailer. The closet had been converted into a bathroom/shower and it was just big enough to stand or sit and barely turn around. The dining table and seats converted into a bed. lol
ReplyDeleteOmg, I bet the people watching at the laundromat was quite interesting! Every time I've gone, I'm creeped out by the shady people.
DeleteI think I've only been in a trailer a few times visiting relatives, but that was 40 years ago.
Oh, this sounds like a cool blog post idea. I may copy it!
ReplyDeleteI can't remember having lobster or my first fancy dinner, but I remember I was in my 40's before ever trying sushi.
My first concert was Bob Dylan (in Germany).
I've only had California rolls. I'm quite fearful of eating any raw meats. Bob Dylan is quite legendary and a great first!
DeleteInteresting “First” and makes me think of some of mine—maybe I should do this
ReplyDeleteYou definitely should!
DeleteThis is fun post. I don't remember all of mine, but my first car was a blue Mazda Protege, my first job was in an herb shop, my fist fancy dinner was a banquet at poetry convention when I was 17. I was so nervous I got sick. :-( My first pet was my kitten Sassy.
ReplyDeleteI do hope your vacations have improved!
My husband had a Protege in the 90's I think. And yes, vacations with my husband and kids fared much better! Thanks for the visit!
DeleteFun survey! Your first apartment experience makes it sound like you were on The Real World, lol. 58 is pretty chilly. I'm impressed you stuck it out as long as you did!
ReplyDeleteWell, the room in the house was like The Real World, which I probably said in that post years ago! Honestly, 58 degrees is a heat wave compared to the horror of this winter! I'm over it and it's barely begun.😜
DeleteVery cool post! Let's see, just a few for me...
ReplyDeleteFirst vacation that I remember was to Panama when I was 4. That would also be the first plane ride. First car was a battered black 1968 Chevelle that I bought for $200 when I was 16. For my first real job at McDonald’s. We always had pets around - dogs, cats, bunnies, turtles, gerbils, a horse, you name it. I have a hard time remembering much about a lot of firsts like concerts.
Wow! You and Ron working at Mickey D's!!! My MIL lived in Panama for most of her teen years due to her father's job and she often talked about its beauty.
DeleteVery impressive list, Bijoux. Thanks for sharing. Some of firsts include: First album, John Lennon's Imagine. First car: a banged up Toyota Corolla. First kiss: age 14 during a screening of The Three Musketeers. First apartment was at 500 Scott Street Stroudsburg, Pa. First plane ride: Age 20, visiting my brother in Berkley, CA.
ReplyDeleteOh, I love those, Rob, esp. The first kiss memory! And I love that you remember your address. I tried to find my old place on google maps, but it's gone so must have been demolished.
DeleteLove this post. Six strangers sounds pretty scary, though. Some of the worst people you've ever known... I may have met them, too. Before I tossed them out if the window. Oh wait... that was a dream I had. Such a beautiful one, too. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Blue. The college house with strangers turned out fine, but I was in over my head with the freaks at that first job.
DeleteFirst vacation was a church camp-out, memorial weekend. Farmers don't vacation much.
ReplyDeleteFirst car was a '76 AMC Pacer, gross grey. I painted it gloss black with a metal-flake silver body stripe. Just because.
First real-ish job was working on my uncle's farm.
First baby crush was Margaret in Kindergarten. First real crush (at 17) was Queenie.
First kiss was at age 18 with Queenie, just around the corner froom our suburban home.
First record was Baby Come Back, by Player, 'cause the cool kids wanted it. But I got it first. And played it maybe 5 times ..... it stunk, but I was cool. For most of a day.
First non-churchy concert was John Denver. Actually, both were John.
First truck was a Dodge Dakota.
My first tractor was a John Deere 1944 B.
If Baby Come Back came on an oldies station, I wouldn't turn the channel. But I doubt I could have sat through a John Denver concert. RIP.
DeleteQueenie made me do it!! I'm not really a concert guy, though I do like Denver's music
Delete"Some of the worst people I've ever known were through this job." That says a lot about retail, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteAll joking aside, this was so much fun to read. I'd love to see more reflections from you!
Lol, yes it really does! And thanks!
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