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Readers share their first-job horrors

First and worst jobs shared by readers include some pretty tough initial outings

Date published: 10/16/2007

By Rob Hedelt

FREDERICKS- BURG'S Phil Heim doesn't have a hard time remembering his first few forays into the working world.

They're easy to recall, he says, because "most of my earliest jobs were distasteful and/or stretched the limits of my youthful patience."

The city resident, who joins other readers this week recalling the first and worst jobs, mucked out calf barns, weeded mint on his hands and knees and walked behind a mule-pulled tobacco sled in the hot Georgia sun.

And though he said those jobs were tough, they paled in comparison to his duties as a J.C. Penney shoe salesman.

"Even now, my nasal passages still shrink and squirm at the mere remembrances of those back-to-school seasons," he said.

Heim said his first day in the shoe department "introduced me to an endless stream of dirty little feet in summer-tired tennies, with soles, insteps and sweat-strained tops that reeked like a long-lost gym bag."

On the eve of his first day, still reeling from the stinky feet, he sought advice from a pal with experience.

"On the second day, I smiled at those little cherubs and their parents, fitted them properly and thanked them for their business," he said.

He added, "As they left the store, I rushed back to the stockroom to refresh my nose with a dab of Vicks VapoRub and sallied forth to the next customer."

Marian McCabe of Spotsylvania County also has her first job--slinging hot dogs in a dime store snack bar--burned into her psyche.

"Three times a week, for six hours or so, I donned a yellow-and-white plaid uniform and slipped behind the glass-topped counter with the rolling aluminum grill and massive vats of mustard and relish," she said.

She made coffee in a huge urn, mixed up lemonade and fruit punch and cooked hot dogs and grilled cheese sandwiches--"getting burn marks on my arms in the deal."

After a pre-Easter Saturday when she told customers to wait their turns, she got fired from the job that paid $12 every two weeks.

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Date published: 10/16/2007