Living History
Lawnmowing
I was only 14 when I got my first job. We were living in Brisbane and my mother was desperate to get me out of the house, so I took it upon myself to start looking for a part-time job. Being only 14, my options were obviously quite limited, but I was determined and fairly strong and healthy in those days and decided to start up a lawn mowing business around the local area. Look at more contributions:
I managed to convince a few people to let me take care of their yards on weekends - some of which I think didn't really need me - and got a little pocket money to keep my sugar stocks up. One customer was an older woman who was a friend of my mother's. She was in the Salvation Army and lived alone on a tiny block just a few streets from us. It always seemed to me when I was very young that she dressed in table doilies.
She paid me one Saturday a month to mow her front and back yard, which took one or two hours. It would have certainly taken longer but for her pet – a small woolly sheep named Barb. It was tied to a pole in her yard and by the end of the month had always managed to keep the circle of grass around it down to about a quarter of an inch.
I think it bit me once too.
Lorrie, Southern Highlands, New South Wales
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