In September of 1986, I got a full-time job at Dave Cook Sporting Goods in downtown Denver. (For those of you doing the math, this made me 12 years old!) I got out of school at 2:45 in the afternoon and if I hustled, I could catch the 2:50 bus downtown. I would work from 4 to 9:30pm Monday-Friday, 7a-4p on Saturday and Noon to 5p on Sunday. You name it and I probably did it. Unloaded trucks, took out the garbage, stocked shelves, recorded inventory, cleaned and repaired ski rentals, cleaned the stock rooms, storage rooms and the list goes on and on. The building itself was huge. A huge 4-story building on the 16th Street Mall that had merchandise on every floor. The work was hard, but I was happy to have the job. At $3.35 an hour, I was earning over $7,000 a year, which was fantastic. Most of the money I earned went to help my family, but I got to keep a little of the money I earned that for the most part got spent on pizza and video games. I felt like the richest kid on the planet.
A lot of people that know this story think I “lost” my childhood working. I disagree. Having to work a full-time job at such a young age taught me a good work ethic. It taught me responsibility and most of all, it taught me, if you want something out of life, you can go get it. You’re never too young (or old) to go out and get it by working for it.