I’m sure most of you have already seen this meme #firstsevenjobs going around on Twitter and Facebook. I hate these types of memes. Prolly because I didn’t come up with the original idea, and I hate feeling like a copycat, or a sheep.

I know, I’ve got issues.

After reading a few, including my friend Fred Wilson’s list, it got me thinking. I believe there is more than just a trend here. I suspect there is an interesting social experiment.

I think participants lists can give us some solid insight into their childhood, their personality, their struggles or lack of struggles and more.  In addition to the jobs, it would have been cool for people to include their ages.

I’d love to see when people got their first job, and how old they were.

With that, I’m going to include my ages, as best I can remember.

So here you go, #myfirstsevenjobs

1. Paperboy (13): There were no routes in my neighborhood, so my dad made me take a route about two or three miles from my house. I put a metal basket on the back of my bike and drove the 4-6 miles round trip every day.
2. Sold Papers on the Street (13): One summer, rather than be a paperboy, I sold papers on Rt 28 in Yarmouth, right next to Moby Dicks. This was a busy intersection where people turned to go to the beach. I would walk up and down the street hawking papers and couldn’t leave until I sold them all.
3. Washed Dishes at The Camelot Restaurant (14): I kinda liked this job, although it was pretty dirty. A typical summer restaurant on Cape Cod, it was known for lobster, steak, etc. Each night, I would scrape all the leftover meat into a recycled plastic pale and bring it home to my dog Fumble. He loved it. I road my bike to work, it was about 4 miles each way. The worse part of riding my bike was riding home. I got out on most nights at 1:00 am. It was late and dark. There was one section of my route home that passed by a cranberry bog. For about a half-mile stretch the road would be pitch black, I mean pitch black. There were no street lights, nothing. Just the woods and the creepy bog.  You’ve never seen a 14-year old kid peddle so fast down the middle of the road in your life.
4. Annie B’s Restaurant(16): This was a fairly nice continental restaurant on Boylston St, in Boston.  I was the salad maker. I loved it. It was my first introduction to 20 something people. I had a blast that summer.
5. Peddled Flowers (16): Walking down Boylston St. one day with my dad, I met some guy in a bow tie and tuxedo shirt, selling flowers as people walked by. I don’t know exactly how he did it, but he convinced me to do it. So for two summers, I wore a bow tie and tuxedo shirt and peddled flowers and roses to people walking by. I learned some pretty impressive sales skills doing this job and a few life lessons.  It was an interesting job.
6. Grocery Bagger at Angelo’s Supermarket (17): Hated this job with a passion.  I made minimum wage, which was $3.35 cents an hour back then.
7. Steve’s Ice Cream (17): Think Cold Stone Creamery.  I have no idea why I took this job. I did it for just a few months. I do remember I was kinda into the girl I worked with. Can’t recall her name, but that was the only thing fun about the job. 😉  Oh yeah, for some reason the song Take On Me, by Ah Ha always reminds me of that job. Go figure.
8. BONUS: In between those jobs, my brother and I did lawn work and shoveled driveways every snow storm we could. We were always looking for a way to make a few bucks.

So there you have it.  My dad was a stickler about work. We always had to be making money. It wasn’t OK not to be. I guess that’s why I had my first seven jobs before I was 18.

What were your first seven jobs?