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LuckyCharms

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7. I shined shoes as soon as I got my working papers at age 14.

Tue Mar 24, 2026, 10:21 AM

Tuesday

This was at a brick and mortar shoe shine parlor operated by a sole proprietor. He never was there, and he gave me a key to the place. It was a half block from my house, and I could open and close whenever I wanted to.

This was near a famous international business that had over 10,000 employees a few blocks away, so business was good. I always turned the proceeds over to the owner. He didn't pay me legally half of the time, but I didn't care, because I was walking home everyday with about $80 in tips per day! Big money for a kid.

Guy came in one day and I'm shining his shoes. He started asking me a bunch of questions. Turns out that the guy was from the labor board. He shut me down...he made me lock up and go home. The owner ended up having to pay me something like $800 in backpay for all the times he "forgot" to pay me.

Jesus, for a kid, I made a lot of money on that job!

After that, I worked construction under the table, with no deductions for taxes or social Security. If I remember correctly, that paid $1.85 an hour.

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I shined shoes as soon as I got my working papers at age 14. LuckyCharms Tuesday #7

Thank you very much , LuckyCharms. What a great post. Working in the cafeteria paid me, 1.80 back in 1973. debm55 Tuesday #8

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