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‘They nicknamed me the clam whisperer!’: Readers share their most memorable summer jobs
“Truly a summer that I will remember forever!”
Having a summer job can be an opportunity to make some cash while basking in the sun and surveying the beach, scooping ice cream, or – like a true New Englander – shucking clams or manning the Swan Boats in the Boston Public Garden.
While long-term teen summer employment has declined since the 1990s labor market boom, when more than half of all U.S. teens (52%) participated in the labor force, it has rebounded successfully post-pandemic and shows signs of growth.
More Summer Job Stories:
By the summer of 2022, teen participation in the labor force rose to 36.7% from a pandemic-era low of 34.5%, its highest level since 2009, according to a study by Rhode Island College.
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And this year is on track to beat last year; in the first four months of 2023, the rate of teen employment has remained slightly above the 37 percent range, the study reported.
We asked Boston.com readers about their most memorable summer job. Half of the dozen readers who responded said they both loved and hated their summer job, followed by 42% of readers who said they loved their job. Only 8% said they hated their summer job.
Did you love or hate your summer job?
Loved it!
42%
It was awful.
8%
A little bit of both.
50%
They told us about selling foam fingers at Fenway Park, picking up trash from the beach, and raising baby monkeys for a Harvard lab, among others. They also told us about finding joy in simple, seemingly mundane tasks and how their summer job helped them down the road. See what readers had to say about their most memorable summer job.
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Some responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
‘They nicknamed me the clam whisperer!’
“Summer nights shucking clams! Most people might think it sounds boring or gross but when I was 16 I was a clam shucker at a raw bar. I loved it because I knew that opening that clam was going to bring joy to someone. Also, I used to think I might find a pearl, so sometimes when I was opening one I’d get this surprised look on my face and my coworkers would say, ‘Did you get one?’ and I’d pretend to put something in my pocket. At the end of the summer I came in with a pearl necklace and told them it was from the clam shucking. They nicknamed me the clam whisperer! What a blast that summer was. Also I made a lot of tips opening clams.”
– Jeanie W., Medford
‘I absolutely loved working with cats and dogs everyday’
“I worked as a veterinary assistant at Jamaica Plain Animal Clinic. I absolutely loved working with cats and dogs everyday, the clinic even had their own two live-in cats! I was able to practice customer service and organizational skills while working on the front desk and gradually spent more time with the doctors treating patients, running tests, taking x-rays, and observing surgeries. Everyone was incredibly kind and every day was a new experience. Truly a summer that I will remember forever!”
– Kathryn D., Jamaica Plain
‘I was on the floor with the stockbrokers’
“My most memorable was a co-op in the 90s at an investment banking company in Boston. I was on the floor with the stockbrokers and my 9-5 was spent cold calling VPs and higher at the top firms in the country and quickly transferring them to the brokers IF I was lucky enough to get beyond their secretaries. At the time, I had no idea why I was there – my major was public relations. My college advisor thought it would be a great way to build communication skills and experience ‘the grind.’ That it did, but it also taught me persistence and how to work with different personalities and helped me create the strong work ethic I have today. Mostly, it confirmed that I definitely did not belong in that industry as a career.”
– Beth, Stoughton
‘I hand-raised baby monkeys’
“I hand-raised baby monkeys while working for Harvard University. This was 20+ years ago. [I was] paid something like $10 an hour, can’t remember exactly!”
– Chris
‘Riding in the dump truck’
“Working as a laborer for Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) along Carson Beach picking up trash off the beach, emptying trash barrels along [William J.] Day Boulevard, scraping grass and other weeds from between the cracks in the sidewalk, using pitchforks to pick up the tideline (seaweed-dry or wet-covered in sand flies) and throw it into the back of dump trucks, riding in the dump truck to take everything from the above tasks to dump in Quincy next to the quarries. I made $150 per 40 hour workweek.”
– Bill, Dorchester
‘The job itself was not bad’
“The only ‘summer’ job I ever had was an internship at a company’s accounting department. The company (no longer in business) bought and sold scrap metals, mainly from auto manufacturers. I was 35 years old, and going back to college to finish my undergraduate in accounting. I was paid $5.00 an hour, just over the then minimum wage of $4.00 an hour. The job itself was not bad, because I needed current experience.
– Anonymous reader, Allston
‘I felt like I hit the jackpot’
“When I was 16, many moons ago, I worked in the kitchen at the Ipswich Clam Box. It felt like a horrible job at the time, mainly because it was my first job and I wasn’t used to manual labor. I spent most of the summer busing the outdoor picnic tables, washing dishes, and every once in a while dropping some clams into the fryer when the main cooks were feeling friendly. At $5.25 an hour, I felt like I hit the jackpot since most of my friends had jobs that were far less paying. My favorite part was the excitement of Friday and Saturday nights – lines out the door, which meant a fast-paced kitchen. All in all, it was a great experience and taught me the importance of hard work and doing your best even in challenging circumstances.”
– Brian, Danvers
‘I was a Swan Boat operator in the Public Garden’
“I was a Swan Boat operator in the Public Garden for several years through high school and college, and one year I got a second job selling big foam fingers in the stands at Fenway. It was 100% commission based, and I’d just work night games, so I don’t think I ever made more than maybe $50 a game. After we’d close up at the Swan Boats, I’d hop on the Green Line (or run, more likely) to Kenmore, then try to sell admittedly overpriced souvenirs in the stands. I’m a distance runner in my late 30s now, and even logging 40-mile weeks in marathon training, I definitely don’t have the legs I did that summer. The best part was turning my bag in around the 7th inning and finding a seat. Even as a kid, I knew it was special.”
– Andrew M., Brooklyn, NY
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