First jobs...

As I work at my desk, I suddenly had a flashback to one of my first jobs.

I'm sure you all remember you first workplace-setting job...

I did work for a day with my Mom at what was Peoples' Drug Store. The Sunday after Thanksgiving, 1988, I worked 10a-6p. I had to wear a tie and dress up... that was a lot for me back then. The term "Business Casual" didn't exist in 1988.

I straightened shelves before the store opened, then spent the day bagging orders as they were checked out. I got $25 for the day. One of my favorites memories growing up was going to the mall on Fridays, having pizza with Dad, and visiting Mom at work. I loved when she let me help her put price tags on merchandise. Those price guns were cool.

Everytime I walk through a CVS, I always look around and think of what Mom would think of the store's appearance and operations.

I'm that way as well when it comes to listening to radio stations from out of town. I'm finicky when it comes to music. When I was in Ocean City, Maryland last weekend, I was quite disappointed. Lots of country, lots of rock, one hip hop, and nothing that sounds like us at T102. I listened to Ocean 98 because they play just about anything. They were the station that hired one of my favorite DJ's, Don Geronimo (see previous postings). Then I heard he got fired from there after just a month. Oh well...

My first job in an office setting was EdMediaTec (Educational Media Technologies). I worked with my Dad and a few teachers from the Wilkes-Barre Area in putting together companion sets of filmstrips with elementary school science books. It took me 18 years to make the connection, but what I do now with commercial production resembles what I did back then. My co-workers would file orders for what artwork and slides needed to be produced. Today, my co-workers files orders for what commercials need to be produced.

I guess I made the connection when I saw the mess on my desk... and realized how much it resembled my work area at EdMediaTec. Nevertheless, that was a productive 22 months that I spent there working on that entire project. Luckily, as I was wrapping that up, I got a job at Stanton Lanes, where I worked weekends for the next four years before getting my first radio job in 1996.

Later this month, it's 11 years that I'm here at T102 and WPPA... longer than some of you have been alive. What a long, fun trip.

Buckle up and don't be allergic to life.
TS