35 Jobs in 30 Years (Part 1)

By S.E. Campbell

From paper route to small business, Part 1 is the first 20 jobs I worked, through high school to my early 30s (roughly 1990 to 2011).These short tales of what feels like a never-ending search to find a place in the world of work will ignite familiarity in anyone who has, or knows someone who has, experienced a similar path of employment.

SPOILER: 3 months after landing what I thought was finally MY full-time, permanent job in Vancouver 2017, I was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Waiting for the surgery date has created the life space to finish this collection of stories. More on this in Part 2.

• Language: English
• Publisher: S.E. Campbell
• Release date: May 29, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463601204

S.E. Campbell

Lover of Star Wars, Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (and his teacher A. Huxley), musics and dancing of all kinds.I used to be into all kinds of big, 'external' issues ie. politics and government. Then I realized that history is massive and humans are humans so maybe I can relax and enjoy life a little more, because, well, there's a plan and I'm a part of it BUT universe knows so much better so I may as well leave it to universe to sort out....Besides, the greatest adventure happens on the inside of us all.Email:[e-mail]

Book preview

35 JOBS IN 30 YEARS:

The Mildly Humourous Tales of a Gen-Xer’s Trials in Employment

(Part 1)

By: S. E. Campbell

Copyright 2018 S. E. Campbell

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‘But what will people think?’

The possible criticisms began swirling around my head when I sat down to write the first story for this collection. I imagined those calling me flaky or even mentally ill, maybe too privileged to keep working a steady job to keep the bills paid. There’s no telling how endless the criticism could be.

Then I remembered one of my all-time favourite writers, Kurt Vonnegut Jr. You know what I think he would say?

Fuck it.

I think Kurt Vonnegut Jr. would say ‘Fuck It’.

Table of Contents

1. The Paper Route

2. The Italian Pastry Shop

3. The Fast Food Chain

4. The Other Fast Food Chain

5. The Nanny

6. The Laundromat

7. The Video Chain

8. The Sales Agent

9. The Council Office

10. The International Banking Information Service

11. The Barristers’ Chambers

12. The Army Surplus Store

13. The Shoe Store

14. The Clothing Chain

15. The Music Store

16. The Other Music Store

17. The Temp Agency

18. The Grocery Cashier

19. The Design House

20. The Small Business

1. The Paper Route

A classic. I was 11 years old and had a friend with a route. More importantly, she had disposable income as a result of having a route. I called the local news publisher to get myself hooked up.

The route was small, maybe 20 houses. Papers were dropped near my house; each day after school I’d carry and deliver. Saturday was of course the heaviest day; sometimes there were flyers, or God, catalogues in there as well.

There was the house with a scary barking dog, the house with the crappy quarter-tipper, the house with the lonely elderly lady who just wanted some company. There was the house that smelled bad as soon as the door opened, and the house with the scary looking residents that drew nervous fear from somewhere deep in my gut the moment they appeared at the door from the dark inside, keeping hold of their dog by its collar. ‘’Come inside for a minute’’ weren’t my favourite words to hear from any house, even though they were uttered only when I was collecting subscription dues.

Before the internet, young kids with paper routes stepped into any number of strangers’ homes to collect paltry sums to be remitted to publisher.

A simple first job it was, but even more it was a very important first lesson in debt.

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