Time Is Not Money!

Happy Friday!  

Remember filing out job applications as a teenager? I do...

I had to earn my own money to get the school clothes I wanted to impress the ladies (who am I kidding!) and earn enough for the senior cruise to the Caribbean.

  

All in, I needed $800 for he summer...it might as well have been a million!

  

"What does the job pay an hour?" I would ask based on instruction from my father.

  

It was 1980 and at that time minimum wage was $3.35.  There was no way you could work 40 hours while still in high school so the most I could hope for was 15-20 hours...that math was not going to help me meet my objective (I'm not just reminiscing...this is a business relevant story!).

 

I got a job at Ponderosa Steakhouse as a dishwasher.  Four of my best friends worked there and lots of cute girls...that was my favorite job EVER!

  

One day Mr. White, the manager, asked me to clean a table.  On the way to complete the task, a man stopped me.

 

"Can you bring me extra sour cream?"

 

"Sure, does anyone else here need anything?" I asked energetically.

 

A few people in the large group had requests and I filled them all with a happy smile.  I cleaned the table and went back to the dishwashing.  About 10 minutes later the man opened the door to the back area and said,

 

"This is for you for having such a great attitude."

 

He slipped a $5 bill into my hand and walked off. 

 

What did that money do?

 

IT CHANGED EVERYTHING!

 

I begged Mr. While to let me wait tables.  He allowed me to cover the floor as people took 15 minute and hour long breaks.  I covered for people who called in sick or when Sunday afternoon crowds got out of hand. 

 

No matter how long I got to be on the floor, I always made and extra $3, $7 or $10 for the time I spent helping people...it is a service industry!

 

Because I was still a dishwasher, I also got to keep my $3.35 an hour rather than the $2.65 plus tips the waitressed got.

 

I was in heaven...

 

It was the first job that made me realize you could get paid for your efforts...your performance... your effectiveness...your service.

 

It was the first and last job where I asked "How much does it pay an hour?"

 

At 16 years of age, I realized I had been steered wrong, mislead, bamboozled and hoodwinked... 

 

I realized that Time Was Not Money!

 

Until tomorrow, I wish you Money, Power, Success!