I stayed pretty calm when I was told I’d been given the honor of cleaning some little kid’s pee out of the slides. Even being stuck in the kitchen alone, I kept my cool when an unreserved birthday party decided they immediately needed 15 veggie pizzas. However, dressing up as Chuck E. and getting punched in the crotch by numerous children on a regular basis was too much for me.

I wouldn’t have gotten a job in the first place if my parents hadn’t required it. I’m not someone who spends a ton of money, so not even the paychecks could keep me motivated. But by some miracle I managed to wake up five times a week, put on my uniform and make the drive to Grapevine for a fun-filled day of pizzas, screaming children and annoyed parents. Needless to say, the summer of 2010 was not the best summer of my life.

Besides confirming that I don’t want children for a long, long time and showing me that health classes should take field trips to Chuck E. Cheese if they want to promote abstinence, my job revealed more about myself than any other experience I’ve had. Luckily, I was rarely scheduled before 11 a.m., but being relied on to come in to work tested my responsibility. Thankfully I succeeded in never missing work and only being late once. While it may not be fun, high school students should all get a job sometime in school, even if it’s just for the summer. Getting a job is a teenager’s first step into this “real world” everyone’s so excited to rush into, and the life lessons Chuck E. taught me are invaluable. It hasn’t made me perfect by any means, but I know how to manage my time and adapt to different situations and personalities.

Since a part-time job is a little slice of the real world, it’s sometimes filled with ridiculous and outrageous situations. When a woman complained to me that we were out of Cherry Coke and demanded I go to the store immediately and pick some up for her, I somehow remained calm and apologized, even though I did nothing wrong. Actually leaving work to get her Cherry Coke seems absurd, but sometimes people just want an apology to make them feel better.

The wide range of personalities my co-workers and customers (or “guests” as we were required to call them) displayed made each day at work a new experience. Sure, cleaning every square inch of the bathroom wasn’t my ideal way to spend time, but the friends I made kept me motivated. When everyone has a mutual goal like running a successful restaurant, there’s a natural unity that most high school students don’t get to experience anyplace else.

I finally quit my job before school started this year so I could focus on college, newspaper and theater, but when I made my last pizza and walked out for the final time, leaving the place where I’d slaved for hours upon end since February, I was actually sad. It wasn’t the work. I don’t have an intense love for making pizzas or dressing up like a mouse. It was my co-workers that made my days interesting, and I already miss it.