First jobs aren’t usually glamorous, but they can make for some interesting stories! Join Andrew and Morag in this episode as they discuss their first experiences in the working world and some of the surprising ways their jobs worked out for them.

Expressions included in the learning materials

* To go ahead with something

* Win/win

* To bring out the worst in someone

* To work out

Sample transcript

Andrew:

Right on. Well, today we’re going to do a Simplified Speech episode. And this is where we have a conversation about an interesting topic, but we slow down our speech speed—so we talk slower.

Morag:

So we can be more clearly understood.

Andrew:

Exactly.

Morag:

I’m excited to discuss with you our topic today.

Andrew:

Aha! And what is our topic?

Morag:

Our topic is our first jobs.

Andrew:

Ah, our first jobs.

Morag:

Yeah. What was your first job, Andrew?

Andrew:

Hmm, well, honestly, I’ve had a lot of jobs, but I think my very, very first job was a newspaper delivery boy.

Morag:

Ooh, I know a couple people who did that. How did you find that job?

Andrew:

Well, if you’re asking how did I get the job, I, funnily enough, found the job in a newspaper classified ad. And if you’re asking how did I like the job, well, let’s just say I didn’t like it very much.

Morag:

No? How old were you when you got that job?

Andrew:

Well, I was probably 11 or 12 years old. And my brother helped me with the paper route, and he would have been maybe 9 or 10 years old at the time. So my brother and I were pretty young when we delivered papers. And our neighbourhood was really hilly because we lived on a mountain, so it was pretty difficult. And, you know, I don’t think we were the best paperboys, unfortunately.

Morag:

No? Did you miss a lot of houses? Or how were you bad paperboys?

Andrew:

Well, in a way, you could say we were smart paperboys, because my brother and I developed a strategy. And so what we did one day is we decided just to not deliver the papers to every house. We just didn’t do it. And the next day, a couple of people called the newspaper office to complain that they didn’t receive their paper. And then we knew, “Ah, we always have to deliver to the houses that complain. But the people that don’t complain don’t care.” So in this way, we were able to cut our work down substantially. We delivered to the 10 houses that complained, and usually we would just ditch the other newspapers. We were bad. But…

Morag:

That is incredibly funny, and really smart, but not what you were paid to do.

Andrew:

No. But I justified it by the fact that they paid us such a small amount of money. It was almost a slave wage. It was really, really bad, so… I don’t know. I kind of feel a little guilty, though, I have to admit.

Audio/Learning Materials: Culips English Learning Podcast