Week Twenty-Five: Your First Job

I'm again looking to recent events in my daughter's life for ideas for writing prompts. She just started working at Cinnabon at a nearby mall, and normally is a fairly unorganized person. However, this new job has forced her to stay on track with homework, appointments, and deadlines, which has been an unexpected bonus!

Here some prompts to get you thinking about your first job...whether it was actual employment, or work around your home or neighborhood as a child or teen:

1. Describe your first job. Where and for whom did you work? How did you hear about this job, and what was the hiring process?

2. What were your expected duties? How often did you work? What were your hours?

3. What were your wages or salary? How often were you paid? Was it in cash or by check? Did you receive any benefits, and if so, what were they? Did you ever get a raise?

4. What did you do with the money you earned? Was it saved for a particular reason, or was it used for living expenses or freely spent? Did you have a bank account? Did you pay taxes?

5. Did you have to wear a uniform or working clothes? If so, write a description. If you have a photo of yourself in the uniform or working clothes, add it to your journal.

6. Did you like your job? Why or why not? Was it difficult or easy? Were there particular duties you enjoyed or especially disliked? Why? Would you do that sort of work again?

7. Write about your supervisor. What was it like to work for him or her? Did you get along? Explain.

8. Write about your co-workers. How did you get along with them? Did you make new friends at work? Are you still in touch today?

9. Do you have any funny stories or experiences to share from your working experience at your first job? What about any sad or thoughtful ones? Did anything unfair happen to you while you worked there?

9. How long did you work at this job? Why did you leave? Where did you go for your next job?

You could continue this writing prompt for several weeks by writing about each subsequent job you had. You could also write about any times of unemployment or gaps in your work history (such as a woman staying home to raise a family).

You could also write about the employment history of your parents, or even your grandparents. If they are still alive, interview them about it. If not, write what you recall. Either way, you will be leaving a written record for their descendants.

Week Twelve: Your Daily Life

After reading some ancestral diaries that others have posted on their genealogy blogs, I thought it would be interesting to provide our descendants with a narrative of our daily lives. In other words, on a typical weekday, what happens? Here are some things to consider:

*What time do you get up?

*What do you do first?

*How do you get to work or school (or do you work at home)?

*What ordinary, perhaps even boring (to you) things to you do at each hour of the day?

*What people do you interact with on a daily basis (co-workers, friends, neighbors, family, community workers such as the mail carrier, etc.)?

*What do usually eat, and where?

*At the end of the workday, what things do you do at home?

*What do you do to relax in the evening? List television or radio shows you watch, music you listen to, websites you visit, etc.

*When do you go to bed?

Now spend some time journaling about your typical weekend day:

*What sorts of things do you normally do on Saturday?

*Where do you go?

*Do you attend worship services on Sunday, sleep in, or regularly participate in some other activity?

*How do you prepare for the coming workweek?

If you have regular activities that happen on certain days of the week, you could add those. For instance, I like to visit my Family History Center nearly every Thursday evening to do research, and I could write about what I do and the volunteers I have gotten to know there.

If you like, you could list this in an hour-by-hour procedure, such as "6:00 a.m. - wake, get dressed; 6:15 - work out on treadmill; 6:45 - eat breakfast: yogurt and a cup of coffee," etc.

It would be interesting to bring your camera to work and take pictures of your workplace and co-workers to add to your journal; or even the commute, if you're sitting, stuck in traffic. If you work at home, you could use the auto-timer or arrange to have someone taking photos of you.

It's often the ordinary days that are overlooked; and I think our descendants would love to know what a typical day was like for us...after all, wouldn't we want to know the same about OUR ancestors?

Next week, we'll be talking about marriage, significant others, or the loves of our lives.