Part-time Jobs Fund Summer for Youth on Their Own

If you’ve read my column in prior weeks, then you’re well aware of what a senior house is. But, if you haven’t, a senior house is a group home rented by eight or so boys or girls (largely from Philadelphia suburbs) for the entire summer, following their graduation from high school. In that summer before college, these guys and girls live, party, and yes, work, at the Jersey Shore.
Unsurprisingly, employment opportunities are one of the most prominent reasons for seniors in high school to opt to rent for an entire summer, rather than just a week or two for vacation. At the shore, these eighteen-year-olds can find jobs hostessing, dishwashing, bussing, working in retail, or camp counseling, just blocks from the homes they are renting.
The four kids I interviewed had mixed experiences with their summer jobs, reporting everything from “I’m a hostess. It’s fun, it’s a good time” to “[My boss] is psychotic, actually. All of the owners and all of the workers.” One expanded on her retail job, saying “My boss is 75 plus, smokes a pack a day.” She added, “[He] showed me how to use the price gun 35 times on my first day.” Still, hope isn’t lost for all in these part-time jobs, as one boy exclaimed, “I love my job, it’s the greatest job ever. I go in around 4:30 and get out around 9; I work at a seafood restaurant.” One girl explained, “I [hostess at a bar] like 35 hours a week, so it’s drunk people at work and drunk people at home, but it brings home the dough.”
Regardless of their feelings on their jobs or bosses, though, each kid lamented the cost of living at the shore and were thankful for the income their jobs provided. One girl explained “we find ourselves struggling to put $3 together for a cup of coffee. We have to pay for our electric, our food, our water, our alcohol, our clothes, our gas – everything,” a friend added, “We ball on a budget!”
While spending their summer at the shore, these kids are short on cash. One girl explained, “I’m pretty much working to afford alcohol, clothes, and this house. I can only imagine what the owner is going to say when he sees [all of the things we have had to replace], new cabinets and new carpeting.” Another boy included, “I do not make a lot of money. I used some extra graduation money to start myself off, and then I’ve just kind of been living off of the money [I make beach tagging.]” In this way, their hourly wages cover a lot of the added expenses of partying and plain daily life.
Most kids begin the summers by paying for their groceries, but later these habits taper off in an effort to “save money.” One boy explained, “You get a taste of what it’s like to live on your own. You have a job, pay for your own stuff – I buy my own groceries, I cook for myself.” While another girl revealed, “I do not contribute to groceries. I don’t like my friend’s food; I like to eat fattening foods. I think I spend most of my money on alcohol and [going out to eat]. I eat lunch at work, but it’s only half off, not free. You’d think at a breakfast place you would get breakfast free, but no, half price.” Another girl shares, “We don’t really grocery shop anymore, so I have to pay for every meal through [eating out].”
Undoubtedly, easily accessible jobs from the tourist culture of the Jersey Shore attract young people to spend their summers working here. And while the combination of job atmosphere and student maturity plays a big role in employee success, at the end of the day, these part-time opportunities stand to satisfy the need for cash these kids’ possess.
Next, I’ll cover “tough stuff;” rule breaking, relationships, and friendships.
Katherine Tague is a rising sophomore at Boston College where she studies communications. She is the middle of four children and spends her summers in Avalon. Katherine is an aspiring journalist, who hopes to incorporate the interviews used in her pieces into long-form audio stories.