One of my first paid jobs was washing dishes in the restaurant of a Holiday Inn. I was 13, and lied on the application that I was 16, the minimum age they would accept. It wasn't a glamorous position, but it did provide a paycheck. And it came with all of the vagaries you'd expect from such a job – unpleasant working conditions, the requirement to always be on-time, shifts scheduled when I'd rather be hanging out with friends, and the proverbial bad boss.
I meandered through a number of jobs in my teen years, learning what was expected of me as an employee and how to work within corporate structures along the way.
These lessons were invaluable as I went off to college and looked for part-time work as a student, and then when I sought a full-time position as a graduate.
When I look at my own kids, it reminds me that we live in a very different world today.
My kids are home for the summer. I don't even need to witness their presence to confirm this fact. All I have to do is look in my refrigerator to check how much food is available.
If the cupboard is bare, then the young adults with voracious appetites that strike late at night must be home. I was reminded of this as I rummaged through the slim pickings in my house for lunch today. Then I was struck by another thought.
Why aren't they working?
It's not that they lounge around all day. They fill countless hours with volunteer work, teaching at-risk elementary students and helping with sports camps, as well as typical summertime activities like going to the beach. But none of them bring home a paycheck.
When I compare their schedules to those of their friends, they're about the same. A few of them work, mostly at part-time jobs a few hours a week, while the majority of them spend their time on volunteer work and internships.
This is a far cry from how I spent my summers in high school and college, but now it looks like the norm.
It's not that my kids don't want to work. I know they have applied for many different jobs. But the nature of seasonal work seems to have changed.
