By Abe Villarreal

Everyone remembers their first job. On the day I turned 16 years old, my mom told me to go out there and get a job. She said I was old enough to earn my own living. I should be making my own money, washing my own dishes, doing my own laundry – and that I should be doing everything on my own except living out on my own.

Like most teenagers, I didn't get it. It wasn't until many years later that I realized the logic behind most of what my parents told me all my growing up years. So in May of 1998, I went out to look for that first job, and almost on the spot I was hired at the local Kentucky Fried Chicken.

I enjoyed working in the fast-food industry. It was fast-paced and I was always on my feet. Just when you thought you could take a break from the long lines, the shift manager would ask why I was standing around. There was always something to do. If there were no customers, there was stocking of supplies. If the supplies were stocked, there was wiping down of tables. If the tables were wiped, there was cleaning of the bathrooms.

When you're 16 years old and working at your first job, you do what you're told, get paid what you get paid, and you keep going shift after shift. I was a vegetarian, and I went home each night smelling like fried chicken. I loved it.

Minimum wage-paying, fast food jobs make for a great foundation of what to appreciate at the beginning of careers. You learn customer service and multi-tasking. You realize that mistakes are made and you learn to apologize. You make kids smile and you see families after church, all dressed up and enjoying a bucket of the thighs and legs, mashed potatoes, and biscuits all crammed together in one table.

You don't realize it at the time, but in some ways you are making a difference in the great, complex economic machinery of our country. Later on, after you quit and move on to the next job, you are better and faster. You're a quick thinker and a better decision-maker. It's what the fast-food experience does to you.

Teenagers have learned these lessons for generations. From carhops on skates to drive-thru window operators. We've all had to "deal" with customers and also helped make someone's day.

Later on, I would go on to push carts at Wal-Mart during the days when pushing carts actually involved pushing them under the hot Arizona sun and without a fancy machine assisting. I would make beds and scrub down toilets as a housekeeper, usually 18 rooms a day. It was mathematically impossible to do so many rooms in an 8-hour shift but somehow, we got it done.

Each of these jobs made me a better person and a better employee. These experiences helped me see people through different perspectives and opened my eyes to the amazing talents of the everyday worker.

Now, as most of my work involves sitting at a computer writing emails or attending meetings with people in suits, I often want to get away for a day to relive my fast-food life. I'd slip into that old, oil-stained KFC polo, slap on the name tag and the headset, stand behind the counter, and ask everyone what they'd like to order.

If I did that today, I know I would get tired faster and I'd move slower between orders. Mistakes would be made, the wrong food given to the wrong person. I'm sure some customers would give me the evil eye or ask to speak to the manager.

Still, I know one thing would be the same as it was in that summer of 1998. I'd be happy just doing my simple job and learning all the values that helped shape me into the employee I am today.

I think we are all better leaders when we have these experiences at the beginning of our careers. Maybe that's the secret recipe the colonel was sharing with all of us during those after-school late-night shifts.

Abe Villarreal writes about the traditions, people, and culture of America. He can be reached at abevillarreal@hotmail.com.