My first job Beth Comstock

 

My First Job: This Weakling Worked the Line and Learned How to Bond

October 28, 2013

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On the first day of my first job, the veteran workers started a pool on whether I would make it to the shift’s end. It was the summer between my freshman and sophomore year in college and I was working with injection molding machines that produced spatulas, beer mugs and huge trash bins. This wasn’t the I Love Lucy chocolate factory job; it was hot and the pace was intense. I was a sensitive weakling! If I had been invited into the betting pool that night, I might have wagered against myself, too.
I thought working as "summer relief" at the Rubbermaid factory in Winchester, Va., would be a nice break from school and a chance to earn some money. I worked the evening shift from 4 p.m. to midnight and my parents would drop me off at the plant at the beginning of my shift and pick me up at the end.
I was a fish out of water. Not only was I not particularly tough, I was regularly assigned to jobs I wasn’t prepared to do. The work was physical, demanding and required a great deal of focus. My coworkers could have been hard on me, but instead they took me in and taught me about teamwork. I learned how people bond around their roles on the line and establish camaraderie. Forget management, we worked hard for each other. This drive led me to double down and make sure there was no way I was going to fail.
We made small trashcans with the hotel logos of various resorts around the world. It was fun to build stories with fellow line mates about what the hotel room must look like in The Bahamas and what we’d do when we visited the resort. We wanted to feel a connection to the fruits of our labor.
I made it through the summer, though I never fully fit in. One of the workers, who became a friend, called me "college girl," assuming I thought I knew something. Truth is, I mostly learned from her. Still, I got to be pretty good on that line and was often asked to step in as a substitute. I owe a lot to that job for helping to teach me what it means to "put it on the line."

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Beth Comstock

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