This is an I-Heart podcast.

Guaranteed Human.

This is Lee Habib, and this is our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people.

And we love to tell stories about work and particularly about first jobs.

What was your first job as a teenager or young adult?

Most of us have one and their memories of our first taste of independence, of earning our own money,

and sometimes doing things we don't want to do but have to.

In other words, it's a taste of growing up. Here to tell the story of his first job is Russ Jones,

a contributor here at Our American Stories. Take it away, Russ. I remember fondly my first job and how it affected how I see my work today.

I grew up in Kansas City. It's a great, great city. My parents owned a public relations firm.

My grandpa, who only had a sixth grade education, taught me a lot about work. He had a girly tattoo from the Navy on his left arm.

He smoked about three packs a day of Marlboros,

and he owned a emergency tow truck business in downtown Kansas City.

And boy, did folks love my grandpa.

He did what he said he would do for a fair price.

He also had a mechanic shop, a four-bay garage.

So back in the day, in the 60s, a four-bay garage was a big deal.

And I used to spend a lot of time there, and I saw how hard he worked.

It was about two weeks after I turned 16.

This would have been 1976.

I was sound asleep in my bed.

I was rudely awakened by my mama. She ripped the covers off that bed and she

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