My mother had a somewhat well-to-do friend who owned a folkart gallery and a gas station and was friends with some silent film stars.

She hired me to help her clean her silver, skim the pool, and groom her pomeranians every Saturday for $5 an hour plus a McDonald's lunch allowance. $35/day was an insane amount when I was 12.

I lost the job when I was just too tired to bike in at 8am one Saturday morning and called in sick. The bitch fired me and I got to be a kid again.