Quite a Journey: Woody's Work History

Just another kind of Gold

It all started with NPR this morning. The article was about the number of jobs the millennials have had and will have during their career. Millennials apparently change jobs fairly often. The article then looked at boomers, and found that they also had lots of jobs, an average of 14, until they hit their 40s, and then they settled into a career of sorts. 
I decided to take a look at my own work career and see where I stacked up compared to a boomer, even though I am a pre-boomer by about 6 years. The list below is the result, mostly in order of work. And I may have forgotten something, or omitted something that may have been a one-off, you know, like earn a few bucks helping a neighbor wash their house. That kind of thing. All the jobs in the list were actually pay check earning employment with some longevity.
I had 16 different jobs before my first full time college teaching position, which morphed into administration which morphed back to teaching. In other words, the career. My first teaching position was in 1969, which means that I had 16 jobs of one kind or another by the time I was 29 years old. So, I started my career in higher education by age 30, well ahead of most boomers. 
As I look over the list I am kind of surprised at the variety of things represented. I guess a point is this: When I needed to work, I found a job, and I didn't really care what I was doing as long as there was a pay check at the end of the week. 
Another job I had while in graduate school the last time, this would be the early 1980s was picking up cans and aluminum scrap on the roadside in Tallahassee. I was often seen walking with a bag, picking up silver gold that others had thrown away. And WOW! what a break when I found a pile of aluminum of window blinds. That was real cash. No shame in doing an honest day’s work. 

baby sitter
paper boy
lawn mowing
chicken dinner  boy
pumping gas
body shop labor
meat department worker
produce clerk
mason helper
mechanic
fishing tackle sales
graduate teaching assistant
classroom teacher
substitute teacher
tutor
research assistant
college teacher
building renovation
co-owner and laborer of landscape business
college administrator
adjunct professor

Image: http://1v550a3jlx4d2lc773o373z5qn.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/can-recycling.jpg