|  Two
distinguished Americans recalling their first job experience
Louis Caldera:
The Parking-Lot Sweeper
My
parents imbued
in me the concepts of family, faith and patriotism when
I was young. Even though we struggled to make ends meet,
they stressed to me and my four brothers and sisters
how fortunate we were to live in a great country with
limitless opportunities. 
I
got my first real job when I was ten. My dad, Benjamin,
injured his back working in a cardboard-box
factory and was retrained as a hairstylist. The owner
of the shopping center gave Dad a discount on his rent
for cleaning the parking lot three nights a week, which
meant getting up at 3 A.M. To pick up trash, Dad used
a little machine that looked like a lawn mower.
Mom and I emptied garbage cans and picked up litter
by hand. It took two to three hours to clean the lot.
I'd sleep in the car on the way home.
I
did this for two years, but the lessons I learned have
lasted a lifetime. I acquired discipline and a strong
work ethic,
and learned at an early age the importance of balancing
life's competing interests — in my case, school, homework
and a job. This really helped during my senior year
of high school, when I worked 40 hours a week flipping
burgers at a fast-food joint while taking
a full load of college-prep
courses.
The
hard work paid off. I attended the
U.S. Military Academy and went on to receive
graduate degrees in law and business from Harvard. Later,
I joined a big Los Angeles
law firm and was elected to the California state assembly.
In these jobs and in everything else I've done, I have
never forgotten those nights in the parking lot. The
experience taught me that there is dignity
in all work and that if people are working to provide
for themselves and their families, that is something
we should honor.
Note: Louis Caldera was the 17th Secretary
of the Army of the U.S.A.
Suze
Orman: The Waitress
I
had my first job at a local diner
called the Buttercup Bakery when I was 22. I worked
there for seven years and learned so many lessons, especially
from a fellow waitress Helen who had incredible self
respect and did what she loved — serving people. She
made everyone smile and feel good, customers and co-workers
alike.
Being a waitress changed my life. One of my regular
customers was Fred Hasbrook, an electronics salesman.
He always ate a ham-and-Monterey-Jack omelet,
and when I saw him walking toward the diner, I tried
to have it on his table as soon as he sat down.
Thanks
to the newfound confidence I picked up from Helen, I
dreamed of having my own restaurant. But when I called
my parents to ask for a loan, they said, “We just don't
have the money.”
The
next day, Fred saw me and asked, “What's wrong, sunshine?
You're not smiling today.” I shared my dream with him
and said, “Fred, I know I can do more if somebody would
just have faith in me.”
He
walked over to some of the other diner regulars and
the next day handed me checks totaling $50,000 — along
with a note that I have to this day. It reads, “The
only collateral
on this loan is my trust in your honesty as a person.
Good people with a dream should have the opportunity
to make that dream come true.”
I
took the checks to Merrill
Lynch — the first time I had ever entered
a brokerage
house — where the money was invested for me. I continued
working at the Buttercup, making plans for the restaurant
I would open. My investments soured, though, and I lost
the money.
I
found myself thinking about what it would be like to
be a stockbroker. After great deliberation I decided
to apply for a job at Merrill Lynch. Even though I had
no experience, I was hired and ended up becoming a pretty
good broker. Eventually I paid back Fred and my customers
the $50,000, plus 14-percent annual interest. Five years
later, I was able to open my own firm.
I
got a thank-you note from Fred, which will be imprinted
on my heart forever. He had been sick and wrote that
my check had helped cover his mounting
medical bills. His letter read, “That loan may have
been one of the best investments that I will ever make.
Who else could have invested in a counter ‘girl’ with
a million-dollar personality and watch that investment
mature into a very successful career woman. How few
‘investors’ have that opportunity?”
Note: Suze Orman is a bestselling
financial author whose books include “The 9 Steps to
Financial Freedom” and “The Courage to Be Rich.”
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The
United States Military Academy is a public, coeducational military college
at West Point, New York, maintained by the United States Department of
the Army to train and educate students to be officers in the United States
Army. Founded by the Congress of the United States in 1802, the academy
was the first school of engineering in the country. Because of a maximum
enrollment limit, cadets must be nominated to attend. Women were first
allowed into the academy in 1976.
Los
Angeles is a city in southwestern California and the seat of Los Angeles
County. Located on the Pacific Ocean, Los Angeles is the second most populous
city in the United States, exceeded only by New York City. It is one of
the nation’s major industrial, commercial, and financial centers. Los
Angeles is also noted for its balmy climate, lush scenery, motion-picture
and television industries, freeways, and occasional earthquakes.
