Summer jobs I had:
Working as a go-fer with the receptionists and doctors in a medical practice. I'd put all the files away, do photocopying and make coffee. I didn't have to deal with any customers/patients. The doctors were probably just as aspie as me, and I got along fine.
Working in a printer's shop - doing collating - I think there are machines that do that now. I also used to help out with the office admin like copying out invoices and stuff.
Working with a recreation officer for a nurses accomodation - ie the hospital had someone to organise activities for the nurses like scuba diving, windsurfing, sewing, yoga, aerobics. I got to update all the calendars and make the flyers ie all the graphic design and what do you call it when you write the words for a poster - that. I really liked that. I only had to relate to one person directly.
Working as a farm hand on various family farms. Going out with the farmer, and acting as a smart sheep dog, gate opener, and an extra pair of hands and providing entertaining? conversation or silence as we felt the need. One time I worked in the shearing shed during shearing - it was handy I looked like a boy at the time and could swear better than the shearers could. They knew I was a girl but kept forgetting and that was ok with me. Them trying to be gentlemanly and keep their language "polite" - would have been a bit stressful for them. There's a lot of work in summer picking fruit too - but I never did that.
None of these jobs where particularily intellectually challenging but it also helped that I wasn't completely stupid too.
Consider what you really enjoy doing and see if you can get a job that relates to that. You might have to ask friends and family for ideas if you can't think of anything. But if you look around you - every single thing that you see - involves someone, maybe lots of people working to get it there (or keep it there).
06 Jun 2006, 7:22 pm
