b'Matters heart of thematter Featuring Local People, Places and Thingsthat Matter Since 1990PUBLISHER& EDITOR IN CHIEFEllen Donker her shy nature. I pointed out that its perfectly nor-ASSOCIATEEDITOR mal to ask this question as its been done for as long Cheryl Silver as people needed work and business owners needed help. How did she think I landed my coveted posi-SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER tion at Burger King? Rachael Entine These days, of course, you can apply for a job without having a conversation, and thats the route ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS Madeline was counting on to produce a job. Sure Rene Conlon enough, H&M contacted her for an interview, re-H. Leslie Gilman sulting in a summer spent working the cash regis-COPY EDITORS ter, folding clothes, and greeting customers. It took Nick Humez a week or two for her to acclimate to shift work but Tia Swanson she soon saw that a variable schedule does have its CONTRIBUTORS advantages, especially if youre a college student. Sara Courtney Back in my day, I chose to waitress, thinking the Adrianna Donat tips would make it more lucrative than a minimum Regina Eckert Theyll have value past August wage job. Im not sure that ended up being the case, but I Malia Rulon Herman BY ELLEN DONKER sure came home with lots of stories that I tell to this day. Donny Levit It turns out that the work of serving diners prepared me Cassandra Ratkevich well for waiting on my family at mealtime. When needed, Tia Swanson I can even showcase my enviable ability to stack plates of Please address all correspondence to: T hot food up my left arm or serve drinks from a tray without spilling them. And Im really good at wrapping sandwiches, thanks to hours spent on the burger board at Burger King. his summer, my kids gave me a gift: All three ofLike riding a bike, these latent skills are always there, ready them found employment. I exhaled a big sighto be called into service. of relief as, one by one, they each accepted aMy husband was a cart boy at Kings supermarket in job. After last years summer of uncertainty, IMorristown during his high school years. Besides develop-was ready for them to be utilized, not becauseing the fortitude to find lost carts and push them around a Visual Impact Advertising, Inc. I thought theyd find their calling but becauseparking lot while his fingers turned blue during the frigid P.O. Box 198 pre-career jobs teach valuable lessons.winter months, he also learned that a paycheck blunts the Maplewood, NJ 07040 Coincidentally, both of our boys took jobs as startersdiscomfortat least enough for him to go back the next 973-763-4900 at golf courses. They love the sport, which was directionalday while dreaming of someday having a job he liked.mattersmagazine.comwhen they thought about places theyd like to work. TimOf course, part-time work also teaches us softer lessons info@mattersmagazine.com is in his third year at a local country club and initially con- we hardly notice learning. Waitressing gave me confidence Matters Magazine is owned and publishednected with the management by emailing them about em- to speak to people I didnt know and try to make their din-by Visual Impact Advertising, Inc., P.O.ployment. Hes enjoyed meeting many professional ath- ing out a pleasant experience. Since I had to depend on Box 198 Maplewood, NJ 07040. Matters Magazine is free, with editions direct mailedletes who play in the clubs outings, which makes the workother employees to do my jobfrom cooks to bartenders seven times a year to the residents of Maple- of cleaning carts and hauling golf bags worth the chance toto busboysI learned how to get along with them, even the wood and South Orange and distributed to businesses and surrounding communitieshave a chat with them.tough ones. And given that wait staff usually get whatever totaling 16,000. Subscriptions are availableChristian stayed in his college town of Washington,blame is to be had, I became skilled in smoothing things to non-residents for $30 (U.S.) $40 (Foreign)D.C. and acted on a lead from a friend for a job at a pub- over. annually. No part of the publication may be reprinted or otherwise reproduced withoutlic course. By the end of the summer, I expect hell haveMy kids are about to enter their senior year of college and writtenpermissionfromVisualImpactenough material to write a book on the personalities whosoon enough will be starting careers that probably have noth-Advertising, Inc. get hired and fired on a weekly basis. ing to do with their summer work. Still, I believe their job CIRCULATION VERIFIED BY Madeline,whohasspentsummersbabysitting,wasperformance will be all the stronger for it. At the very least, U.S. POSTAL RECEIPTS. looking for something different. I encouraged her to ask attheyll have their own secret skills to call up at just the right READ & RECYCLE our local shops if they were hiring, but that didnt jibe withtime as well as plenty of stories to tell their own kids. 10/ matters magazine / school 2021'