RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
You've seen it now in your social media feeds for the last couple of weeks. Hashtag #firstsevenjobs, a call-out for exactly that - the first seven jobs you ever had. So maybe it's interesting, maybe it's not, but here you go, my first seven jobs. First, babysitting in junior high school. Then in high school, I sold wool Pendleton suits at a women's clothing store in our local mall.
One summer, I was a mannequin model in that same mall. You know, when you stand in a store window, you strike a pose and you pretend to be a mannequin? Yeah, I did that and they paid me. So that's number three. Number four, I worked as a typist at a title insurance company when I was in college in the summers. I'm really, really good at typing, by the way.
Number five, I worked as the bar cart girl at a private golf course. I learned how to make a greyhound, I learned how to make change, and I learned how to make myself scarce when skeezy men harassed me. That's another story. Number six, I was the hostess at a restaurant in Seattle. I got to take Eddie Vedder to his table. Number seven, I worked as an English teacher in Japan.
It would be at least another couple more jobs before I landed my first paying gig at the NPR station in San Francisco. But man, I am glad I know how to mix a good drink, I can apologize in Japanese, and I can channel my best Kim Cattrall and hold really, really still. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
