Shy teen's summer pool job taught her respect beats attention
At 14, a shy girl took a coveted job at a Victorian pool one summer in 1982.
In summer 1982, the author was hired at Sale Memorial Pool's kiosk in Gippsland, Victoria. It was a prized position before fast-food chains and supermarkets offered teen work.
She felt out of place among the tanned, trendy girls who worked there. She was nervous on her first day in a terry-towelling skirt and Jelly Bean sandals.
She sat taking coins through the window, selling pies, icy poles and crisps. Her polished co-worker Chris came from a different world: grammar school, brick veneer home, accountant father.
Yet Chris turned out to be kind and genuine. Over a blazing summer marked by drought and bushfires, the girl enjoyed the work.
She loved serving little kids who gazed up holding out their 10-cent coins.
- Summer 1982, age 14
- Year and age
- Sale Memorial Pool, Gippsland, Victoria
- Location
- 33 degrees Celsius
- Forecasted temperature
Why it mattersA first job can shape how young people see themselves and what they value, a lesson many readers recognise from their own teenage years.
AustraliaA personal reflection on growing up in 1980s Gippsland offers Australian readers a nostalgic look at summer jobs and small-town life before corporate chains changed youth employment.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 10 d ago
