The Lessons of a Summer Job That Last a Lifetime

The Lessons of a Summer Job That Last a Lifetime 

By Dennis House

This summer, the waitress bringing your lobster roll to your table at Abbott’s Lobster In the Rough in Noank, the lifeguard at the West Hartford town pool blowing his whistle and the teenager filling up the popcorn containers at the Southington Drive-in are seasonal workers toiling away at summer jobs. There are hundreds of these jobs across Connecticut filled by high school and college students; some are people who are in Connecticut for the summer after working the winter in Florida and other places. These are future doctors, police officers, businesspeople and, who knows, maybe a news anchor! 

As my kids prepare for their summer jobs, I can’t help but remember the many jobs I had as soon as school got out for summer. Dishwasher, bus boy, waiter, concierge, office assistant, landscaper, salesclerk, cashier and security guard were among the professions I became an expert at during my favorite season. 

The first summer job I had was a paper boy, a job that doesn’t really exist in any large numbers today. I rode my bike around my neighborhood in Norwood at the crack of dawn delivering the Boston Globe and Boston Herald in Massachusetts. I’ll confess, if it rained, my mom drove me in our Ford station wagon. It was cash business and I spent the money on things like baseball cards and at the ice cream truck. A few summers later, I would earn an allowance by washing the family cars. As I aged, my hard-earned money was spent on things like record albums, a new shirt at Chess King and the prom. 

In high school, I worked as a dishwasher at a restaurant one summer, a cashier at a supermarket and as an office assistant for a company owned by friends of my parents. My primary responsibility was to go to the bank each morning and get quarters, and then I’d walk around and feed the meters of the employees…every two hours. 

One of my most interesting jobs I had one college summer was at the now-defunct Zayre’s, a chain of department stores similar to a Target. I was an undercover detective. Yes, it was a great job. I could wear whatever I wanted and had to simply look like a customer. There were no security cameras, just big mirrors and a catwalk in the stockroom where we could peer through an opening to have a bird’s eye view of shoppers. Shoplifting was a frequent occurrence. If I saw someone stealing, I would go to the head of security — an off-duty or retired police officer — and he would take care of approaching the thief. We saw some crazy stuff, like people who would walk out the store slowly and confidently with a big television as if they’d just paid for it. They hadn’t. People would put on clothes in the dressing room, even new underwear and attempt to steal it. Zayre’s vanished from the retail scene in the 1990s, but what an experience I had there. When Local Vyntage came out recently with a retro Zayre T-shirt, I had to get it! 

The job I liked the least was my summer as a landscaper at Treen’s Evergreen Nursery. It was minimum wage ($3.35 an hour in 1982). Because I had no experience, I spent much of the day weeding and digging and doing hard labor, usually by myself, while others handled the creative fun part of transforming and beautifying yards. I got really proficient at sweating, sneezing and swatting away mosquitoes. 

I had a few summer jobs on Cape Cod, beginning with being a waiter at the historic Lighthouse Inn in West Dennis, which is a beautiful place that holds a special place in my heart. Before I worked there, my grandmother took me there from time to time. Later, I brought Kara there to show her where I worked one summer. During our stay there, we bought a pregnancy test and found out we were having our first baby! We have returned with the kids for family vacation. 

These summer jobs helped me in so many ways that still guide me today. Responsibility, interpersonal skills, patience and the list of things I learned goes on and on. Working in restaurants gave me a deeper understanding of people and a lasting appreciation of those who work in the demanding service industry. Knowing the back story of how restaurants operate is something everyone should learn. As for landscaping, I get it when the people I pay to mow my lawn might be a little grumpy. Landscaping can be grueling, but I learned some valuable skills I practice in my yard, though I concede it never looks as good as a professional job. My time working on a store security team was my first exposure to law enforcement and those who break the law; that has helped me tremendously in my work as a journalist. 

If I had to do it over again, I think I’d get certified to be a lifeguard and get a job at a beach. Sure, it is a tremendous responsibility, but you’re outside all day and seldom work at night. It is never too late, right? I wonder if News 8 would give me the summer off to sit in the big white chair at Hammonasset? 

Dennis House has been covering the news in Connecticut for over 30 years. He can be seen weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m. on WTNH and at 10 p.m. on WCTX. He also hosts This Week in Connecticut Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. Connect on Facebook @dennishouse3 and Twitter & Instagram @dennishousetv.