[Jay H 237]

I was 17 when I got my first job. I had bought a used car at that point, my "mechanically challenged" Dodge Omni, and I needed money to pay for it. They used to announce local jobs over the morning PA when I was in high school and one of the announcements was for an entry level position at a local body shop. So I decided why not, I like to work on cars.

I only wound up staying there a few weeks. Some things were fun like getting to drive many different vehicles when I had to detail them before delivery and when I moved them around the lot and garage as they needed to be worked on. They even gave me a small raise shortly after starting because I could drive a standard without any problems (I learned on a standard car and my Dodge was a 4 speed) unlike others they had hired. Some couldn't drive a standard at all. There were two reasons I left, one was there were days when there weren't any cars needing detailing and I wound up cleaning up the shop and coming home absolutely filthy. With all the sanding and repairs there was alot that needed cleaning. The second reason was the weather, here in CT it gets REALLY cold in the winter. They didn't have a dedicated inside area for detailing so it had to be done outside, in all kinds of weather. Being out in the cold wasn't fun but add in the fact you're trying to wash a car with water and it was outright miserable especially when you couldn't feel your hands after a few minutes.

After doing that I decided that I only wanted to keep working on cars as a hobby and not something I wanted to do day in and day out.