Two spots, 200 applicants for a minimum wage summer job at Baskin Robin’s Ice Cream shop in the small California town I grew up in. That was the first summer job experience I applied into. The following year we moved to the DC area and my job search ended on the first day when, much to my surprise considering my CA experience, I was interviewed, hired, handed a uniform, and told to show up for work the following day.
Little did I know at the time that summer jobs in many variations were plentiful for kids out of school for the season in the larger DC metropolitan area. I eventually moved on to a better, less greasy, retail job where my biggest responsibility was assuring the cash drawer was balanced out at the end of the day. Had I been willing to drive to Harpers Ferry WV I could have worked a much cooler job at River & Trail Outfitters as a Guide on our Shenandoah River Raft trip during the summer season. Instead of flipping burgers or working indoors under halogen lights all day, you’re serving lunch on a huge rock in the river and enjoying the fresh outside air and warm sun. And talk about responsibility, you literally have the safety and well being of the customers in your hands as well as the task of entertaining a variety of ages and nationalities with stories of river ecology and Harpers Ferry history as you float down the river.