My First Job

Two noted Americans explain why it’s not what you earn – it’s what you learn

The Auto Prepper(Jay Leno)

    I acquired a very strong work ethic from my parents, both of whom lived through the Great Depression. They couldn’t understand people who didn’t work regularly. I once told my mom that Sylvester Stallone was getting $12 million for ten weeks of work.”What’s he going to do the rest of the year?”she asked.

    I took my parents’ work ethic into my first job at Wilmington Ford near my hometown of Andover, Mass, when I was 16.I worked until five or six o’clock on school days and put in 12-hour days during the summer as a prepper. This meant washing and polishing the new cars, and making sure the paper floor mats were in place. Another responsibility was taking off the hubcaps at night, so they wouldn’t get stolen, and replacing them the next day. This was hard work because we had about seven acres of cars.

    One day, carrying an armful of hubcaps around a corner, I almost bumped into our new general manager. Startled, I dropped them all. He fired me on the spot.

    I was too ashamed to tell my parents. Every day for about two weeks, I stayed busy until evening. Then I would go home and say I had a great day at work.

    Desperate, I wrote a letter to Henry Ford II and told him what happened. I said that we were a loyal Ford family and that when I was old enough, I was going to buy a Mustang. Eventually the owner of the dealership called. “I don’t know who you know in Detroit,” he said,”but if you want your job back, you got it.”

    Later, during college, I wanted to work at a Rolls-Royce dealership, but the owner said there were no openings. So I started washing cars there anyway. When then owner noticed me, I said I was working until he hired me.He did.

    It takes persistence to succeed. Attitude also matters. I have never thought I was better than anyone else, but I hanve always believed I couldn’t be outworked.

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