Teenager Part Time Job Saga - Part 2

Since my previous blog post about our 11th grader's first part time job as a restaurant busboy--that same restaurant was recently mentioned in a local paper with its Health Food score an F!  His first job is frequent fodder for our family dinner table conversation.

In October when he had that job, we mentioned this job's shenanigans to a friend who has always been in the franchise business and he told our son about an acquaintance getting ready to open his own franchise restaurant and he could put in a good word.  That is how our son got his 2nd job which started after Thanksgiving.

Our son is amazed at the contrast--there was good training, high expectations and a clear payday schedule.  He is working at a place that is similar to a Five Guys where the order is taken by a cashier and then cooks make the food and then customers are called up to get it and then add their own fixings to their plate.  So his duties rotate from cashier to refilling the drink dispensers to sweeping the floor, to asking customers if they need anything.  I knew he would like to work like I did when I was his age because it helps to learn how to make conversation with all kinds of people.

On his first payday he didn't even ask his boss about the pay--when he walked in his boss immediately gave it to him.  Together we have opened a "teen" checking account so now he has direct deposit and his acct is linked to mine so I see it and he has a debit card.  Talking to the bank associates was a good experience for him too.  Right now his mind is filled with what kind of jobs people have and how did they end up where they are.

But there was one incident that happened in the parking lot outside his new job.  The restaurant is in a newly renovated strip center that is looks 100% better than it did a year ago with some good anchor stores and new smaller stores.  He drives to work in an old Toyota truck of ours that he gets to use for work and school.  The workers tend to park at the opposite end of the lot, with their cars facing a busy road.  The lot is not very big--nothing like a Home Depot or grocery store lot--it is much more narrow than that.

A couple of Sundays before Christmas he worked from 4 till 10:00 pm and when he got into his small truck he drove away and noticed it sounded loud and knew he had to tell his dad/Hubs as soon as he got home, which is a few miles away.  But shortly another driver pointed to my son's car and said his tailpipe was dragging so our son pulled into a bank parking lot and called home and said something was wrong.  Hubs grabbed his tool bag and went a mile down the road to meet him.

Soon they both came back and Hubs announced, "Thieves cut out the catalytic converter from under his truck."

This happened to a friend of mine a few years ago who had parked her Maxima in a large Home Depot lot all day.

All it takes is two minutes for a thief to slide under a car with a saw and cut in two places near the muffler and steal it.  Here is why (pasted from Wikipedia):

Because of the external location and the use of valuable precious metals including platinum, palladium, rhodium, and gold, converters are a target for thieves. The problem is especially common among late-model trucks and SUVs, because of their high ground clearance and easily removed bolt-on catalytic converters. Welded-in converters are also at risk of theft, as they can be easily removed with a reciprocating saw. Theft removal of the converter can often inadvertently damage the car's wiring or fuel line resulting in dangerous consequences. Rises in metal costs in the U.S. during recent years have led to a large increase in theft incidents of the converter, which can then cost well over $1,000 to replace.

It is amazing that someone risks jail time for an item for which they get about $40 from a scrap metal place--and those people who pay for these are as bad as the thieves.  Fortunately for this vehicle a refurbished part cost $75 and then after labor the total was around $200 so not the thousands it would cost for other vehicles. 

Our son called his boss and told him just as a heads up to tell the property rental company.  Police drive by occasionally.  Anyway, our son parks closer to the store now.  Something worse happening in this town we live in has me nervous.  

A few weeks before Christmas, Hubs said outloud, "Well I wonder what house item will fall apart/break this year as it is always something this time of year."  He didn't have to wonder long, as I swear the next day it happened.  It has been a stressful, bummer, downish winter.