I was about 15 years old and wanted to work at the local grocery store in town, Save Mart. It was the only real grocery store in town at the time and it was also the area where every teenager in high school would hang out on the weekends.
All the stores were unionized and you had to be at least 16 to work in any grocery store. I used to come in to the store every couple of weeks asking the manager for a job. He finally said yes. I was 15 1/2 and I was so excited. The manager at Save Mart was very nice.
After working there for a bit, someone found out how old I was and told the union. My manager had to let me go because I was not 16 yet. It was devastating to experience being let go, even if it was just because of my age.
My manager was the best though. Unknown to me, he was saving my position until I turned 16. One day while I was in the store shopping, he asked me when I turn 16. I told him in a couple weeks. He said you start back on your birthday! It was awesome to come back and have my job again. I was a courtesy clerk, which was a fancy name for a bagger.
Save Mart was a great job for me and it taught me a lot about people. It was the vehicle for me to learn how to interact with the public.
There were several people at Save Mart that really helped me and taught me some lessons about life. There was an assistant manager who really helped me and my family. He took an interest in helping and I will never forget how he helped us back then. I wish I could say thank you now.
This is the job that allowed me buy my first car and it gave me a great financial start in my life.
When I turned 18, I started college studying music. There was also a new big chain grocery store that was opening up in our town called Lucky's.
I remember the wife of the new Lucky's manager shopped at our store because Lucky's was still being built and was not opened yet. One day I was helping her to her car with her groceries and asked if there were any openings and she said yes. I then applied at Lucky's to be a cashier. I was lucky, lol, and got hired.
This Save Mart story is a short introduction to my grocery career, but it was an important part. I had a lot of fun and this position prepared me for what was to be my career for the next several years.