LOW-PAID summer jobs for unskilled teenagers are notoriously awful, but were they really worse than your current job? Or much, much better?
Waiter
You never thought you’d look back fondly on balancing hot plates on your forearm or calmly telling dipshits that rare steak is supposed to look like that. At least then the ordeal was seasonal and were still living with your parents so all your wages went on booze. Your current job will last until you die and can barely cover the rent.
Shelf-stacker
Numbingly tedious at the time, pleasantly straightforward and rewarding now you’re reminiscing about it. You didn’t have to send emails. Office smalltalk was non-existent. And there were no bullshit meetings. It was just you and the shelves and your imagination. Maybe you should go back to it? It’s not like that job’s under threat from AI.
Lifeguard
Sitting on a tall chair by a municipal pool for hours on end doing f**k all was monotonous, but the risk of death and the occasional in Speedos kept you alert. You had a little whistle and could tell kids off for bombing. Nothing in your current role gives you anything like that level of satisfaction.
Warehouse operative
Trudging around a warehouse wearily retrieving items wasn’t the summer you had in mind as a teenager, but it was a laugh, when the supervisor wasn’t around they’d lift you up and zip about on the forklift, and during night shifts you’d sleep on a high pallet. You didn’t know it at the time but that was when your working life peaked.
Kitchen porter
Washing dishes was shit, but you didn’t have to take it home with you. And when your kitchen got a dishwasher all you were doing was loading and unloading while flirting with the front of house staff. It might not have been your dream gig, but you’d f**king jump at a fortnight of it now.
