Minding Your Business: Readers remember their first jobs

Happy Tuesday, MYB readers! Here we are forging our way into August with some events and business news to brighten this new month. Below are just a few I hope you find helpful.• According to the American Automobile Association, the Tennessee gas price average (as of Monday) was $3.78, down 5 cents from last Monday's state average. Kingsport and Bristol's Monday average was $3.82, down 15 cents from last week. A year ago, the average was around $2.87.• This month through Wednesday, Aug. 31, at 11:59 p.m., food and food ingredients are exempt from sales tax. Sales of prepared food, dietary supplements, candy, alcoholic beverages and tobacco are not included in items exempt during this period. Go to the state website for more information.• The Carter Family Fold will hold its 48th annual Carter Family Memorial Festival on Saturday featuring the Crooked Road Ramblers, Whitetop Mountain Band and the Hogslop String Band. Adult Admission is $25 (Children 6-11 are $5 and under 6 are free). Tickets are first-come, first-serve and only available at the gate. For more information, go to http://www.carterfamilyfold.org/p0002.html.• Election Day for the state primary and county general election will be held on Thursday. For more information, go to https://scelect.org/.Notes From The FieldIn last week's Minding Your Business column, I mentioned third-quarter youth employment is the lowest in at least 28 years across the U.S, according to the Census Bureau. Young worker employment has seen a downward trend in summer months over the past 20 years. According to the Census Bureau, those numbers have failed to fully recover from the early 2000s' recession and the Great Recession.The Kingsport Times News online readers told the Times News all about their first job, what they learned and if they deem youth employment as an important experience and why.Vicki Cooper Trammell said she was the "Kingsport Parks and Rec playground leader. I learned that money didn't grow on trees. I appreciated more my father's time away from home. He worked hard to support us. It taught me you worked for things you wanted."For many, it's less about the job and more about the lessons learned. Often, those lessons revolve around time management and honing communication skills."My first job was in an auto parts store when I was 17," Brian Archer said. "It taught me a lot about time management, personal management, and taught me to be accountable. I was socialized with people outside of my circle of friends and it taught me how to communicate and function as an adult even though I wasn't one just yet."I think it's very important for kids to become socialized with the adult world as soon as they are able. Kids nowadays need the ability to speak for themselves and become resilient in a sometimes very competitive world.""I learned to use slow time to prepare for the rush, anticipate the customer's needs," said Liesa Jo Jenkins, whose first job was as a waitress, "and to always be nice to the cook and the dishwasher!"My first job (apart from summers lifeguarding and teaching swim lessons as a teenager) was at Beaty Shoes in Kingsport. I worked at Beaty Shoes my freshman and sophomore years of college before I transferred to UT. Sometimes when I go in to browse through the aisles, I still catch myself straightening the shoes.But mostly, my sentiments of Beaty's are similar to those of our online readers. That job showed me what it meant to manage my time and organize a work and school schedule. Above all, it also spurred along my communication skills and helped me see how to talk to people, even when they're unhappy. I learned that people sometimes just need to be heard more than they need a solution. In many situations, good service really only takes effort and a listening ear more than the perfect solution.Maybe what I think back on the most (other than the pairs of boots I was able to buy throughout my time there) are the people I worked with. As mentioned in one of our reader's posts, working a job often pairs you with people from different walks of life, age groups and experiences. Looking back, I see how getting to know those women I worked with, who were at least 20 to 30 years older than I was, offered me a perspective they never probably thought much about. I still remember talking to one co-worker who just made it out of a messy divorce in the parking lot after work and another who worried about her daughter and wanted to talk about it. I learned a lot about life from my Beaty's co-workers who became my friends. They made it a hard place to leave when it came time to head off to Knoxville that fall.The number of teenagers and young adults with jobs in our country have dwindled, and some for good reason such as extracurricular activities and volunteer hours needed for scholarships and additional school hours put in throughout the year. But I seem to agree with our readers — youth employment can hold more than just a little extra cash. Those first jobs offer time management skills, lessons in customer service and communication and perspective you might not otherwise gain.And if thoughtful life lessons aren't the result, there's always other life lessons."I learned I would never have that many kids of my own," said Susan Jordon, who commented on her first job as a babysitter.Send your business notes or business anniversaries (ending in a five or zero) to mwaters@timesnews.net.