You Never Forget Your First...

[fuse]

Still never owned a car, and don't have a license. I love telling American colleagues this, who typically look at me as if I've just sprouted a second head upon learning of it. Can't remember the name of the first of many goldfishes that we had, but I do remember our first hamster a bit more vividly.

When do we get onto the "first surname of your mother?" question

[Blobcat]

First car - Nissan Micra Ally.

Surprise birthday sorta Christmas joint present from my parents the Christmas after I started teaching (didn't last long lol). This was around 2 years after I had passed my test or tried to drive a car so I was excited and nervous about owning my own car.

It was red with a tiny sun roof I loved. For my birthday my parents got me some very cringe but awesome black seat covers with embroided red dragons on which I would still love to have this day.

I only drove it into town and back again until I moved out 9 months later. Never ever had a single issue with it until it failed spectacularly on its MOT in November where it needed more work than its worth (lots of welding and wire work). My parents helped me quickly find a replacement which I hated but I had no choice at the time as my mum INSISTED Ford KA's were safe and all her friends daughters had them.(I had friend who recommended NOT to get one as they were awful). My poor little Micra refused to budge for 2 hours the day it was to be exchanged for the new car, it didn't want to leave me.

First pet.

Kind of a mixed one here which was first of MY pets. So my mum had a white cat called Suki when she was in university until I was about 10 years old, she was put down at the age of 22! She used to sleep on top of the kettle and was very independent so kept to herself unless the electric fire was on.

My sister had 2 guinea pigs when I was a toddler called Tootsie and Tinkerbell. One day they were not there and my mum said they went on holiday, only to find they had been donated to our nursery as my sister didn't really pay attention to them anymore.

We had a goldfish called Flora, I see her as my first real pet coming into the house. One time not long before she truly died, there was a 2nd fish in her bowl and I was incredibly confused about how she could have had a baby by herself. In truth my mum must have replaced her quickly and another fish may have got caught in the net she was caught in in the shop. My mother loves to tell the story of how Flora either jumped out or my sister dropped her out her bowl and she desperately tried to pick her up with her Rainbow Brite pencil. My mum later in life revealed every time the fish died she would cut up a bit of carrot and let the water get dirty to drop it in so we wouldn't notice until she bought a new one.

[Anpanman]

Dogs are a pain in the arse too though. Like a baby that never grows up.

Exactly our thoughts, get a cat.

Still never owned a car, and don't have a license. I love telling American colleagues this, who typically look at me as if I've just sprouted a second head upon learning of it.

Nice one, I only started driving because we had a kid, I'm a crap driver and I don't like it, much more comfortable cycling through rush hour traffic than driving in it.

Bought ours new on a 55 plate (eighteen years old) and done less than 38k miles.

I'm now being pressured to buy a new one just because the roof is leaking!

[Neon Ignition]

You Never Forget Your First...

Break Up

[Zaki]

You Never Forget Your First...

Break Up

I think we're all trying to!

[Lebowski]

NOPE NOPE NOPE, Not reliving those cringey teen years or sharing about them here

this threads about to go full inbetweeners

[Neon Ignition]

Technically mine is an easy one. Last year in High School and ended up with a girlfriend mostly, awful as it sounds, out of the flattery of someone showing interest. It only lasted about a month and toward the last week or so of that the reality had set in that I wasn't actually into the situation. Being a gawky, girl shy teen I broke it off.... via friend telling her on the bus home for me

Got the stink-eye from her two friends for a week but everyone was fine again not long after, it being a non-serious school thing and all

[Neon Ignition]

You Never Forget Your First...

Job

[Asura]

You Never Forget Your First... Job

Worked on and off at a carvery restaurant in my teens for a couple of years, during holidays and weekends. Initially a runner, then a waiter, then carvery chef, and eventually even working the bar for parties.

Absolutely hated it. It was hot, very physically demanding work, and being under 16 for the start of it, I was paid sod-all. I don't remember how much but definitely not enough, even for a teenager.

But how else was I gonna raise the cash to get a Dreamcast?

[briareos_kerensky]

Very first job...was forced by my parents to help them in their store, actually trying to sell perfumes, beauty products, and the like even before being 14. Had to help during the Christmas period and summers. Absolutely effing hated every second of it. I was paid, but I would have preferred being pennyless and able to go out with friends or just chill out at home.

Real first job? Modelling, animating, and rendering digital versions of toys found in Kinder eggs, that will then be used in Flash games you could access with codes found along the toys. Bought a GC, memory card, Mario Sunshine, Rogue Squadron, and REmake with the first paycheck.

[Lebowski]

im kind of split as my first real job was off the back of work experience and it wasn't very above aboard the wage was terrible at £10 a day for about 5 hours work, I was 16 it was the 90s their was no real laws protecting minimum wages for under 18s, i worked their washing and valeting cars for jct 600 it was easy work and the guy i worked with was so lazy he'd send me out for cig runs with petty cash and tell me to get myself some too, they always got lunch in too so the perks where pretty good and it got me a bit of spending money.

My first actual full legally paid job was in a Chip Shop with an anarchic old till that did nothing, it was hot poorly paid and super stressful, the old misery that worked their wouldn't let me use a calculator to add up the massive orders so was a complete nightmare for my 16 year old brain. i got sacked after a few weeks, the final straw was my hat fell in the fryer when i was scrapping it out and he went mental over it, as it went all crispy.

[Neon Ignition]

For me I was 16 and had just finished school, my parents were suddenly right onto it saying I needed one to teach me the value of working (like the next five decades weren't going to accomplish that) and quickly rail roaded me toward the quick fix of local supermarkets. Ended up working on Sundays at a Co-Op supermarket. I earned around £3.70 an hour and there was a security guard, one person who acted as the floor manager, two people on tills, one on the cig counter and one on the meat counter. The entire store floor, warehouse, freezers etc where then entirely down to me to sort out. First hour was getting out the fruit, veg, milk etc before opening (an absolutely epic spider once crawled out of a box of bananas) then I had to spend the day going isle by isle rotating the shelves and topping up anything that had run out. The take home was so small I would often have spent it in two minutes buying chocolate bars at Woolworths to take into College. Worked there for two years until the store was closed down.

[Neon Ignition]

You Never Forget Your First...

Time Getting Drunk

[charlesr]

Job: Guide, course digger, and mechanic, at a downhill mountain bike centre. Sadly it no longer exists. Best job ever. So many parties in the woods.

[Asura]

For me I was 16 and had just finished school, my parents were suddenly right onto it saying I needed one to teach me the value of working

In fairness to your parents, this wasn't the worst call. I deal with a lot of work-ex teens and the main thing I say to all of them is that if they fast forward 8 years and are applying for a job, when I look at their CV, having a job, as long as it's one that requires they get out the house and work alongside other people* immediately puts them a cut above every applicant who has never had a job. It just means I know they can hold down a job, which counts for a lot.

Main advice I'm giving them is not to be worried if their first job is in NEXT, or WHSmiths, or similar.

*Not saying being a streamer or solo YouTuber isn't a job. Just not for the purposes of this.

First hour was getting out the fruit, veg, milk etc before opening (an absolutely epic spider once crawled out of a box of bananas)

I can believe it. I worked with someone years ago who used to work for a fruit unpackers' yard. They got containers of fruit from all over the world and had to repackage it to send to supermarkets. The things he said came out of the crates then they smashed them open... I think he said once they opened a crate of bananas and an swarm of what looked like bioluminescent scorpions with transparent shells burst out.