I remember one of my first official jobs (besides the occasional odd job). I was a newspaper carrier for the Bellingham Herald on a rural route. I was about 11 or 12 when I started.
Newspaper delivery was difficult, especially for a scrawny kid such as myself. The route was about 7 or 8 miles total (including picking up the papers at the drop-off point) and I had about 44-45 subscribers on my route. I delivered the papers after school and on Sunday mornings - 6 days a week. I had to deliver in all kinds of weather. It didn't matter if it was rainy or dark. I still had to deliver the papers riding my bicycle on these rural roads, sometimes even being chased and bitten by dogs. In the winter months, I often had to try to get up a steep hill that was covered with ice, which was no easy feat and sometimes slipped and fell.
My parents usually had to answer angry calls from crotchety subscribers because they didn't get their paper on time or their paper was wet because it was dumping down rain. Most of the time I was late was because the person who was supposed to drop off the papers was late and I had to wait around at the drop box (sometimes for what seemed like hours) for the delivery person to show up with the papers. When he did show up, it was obvious he was dealing with a hangover. My least favorite part of the job was trying to collect the money from subscribers. Some of them were rarely home or they never seemed to have the $4.00 for their papers. I had to knock on doors of some scary places... secluded houses on long driveways with attack dogs and grumpy subscribers. I seriously feared for my life every time I would go to collect the money every month... alone.
As difficult as this job was, I was thrilled to get my pay - which amounted to about a dollar per subscriber (that is if I could get them to pay for their newspapers). My job came to an abrupt end when my parents decided I couldn't do it anymore... not because it was difficult or dangerous for such a young child, but because I didn't keep up my grades in school. They felt the 2-3 hours I spent every night would have been better spent working on my homework. I was distressed that I had lost my only source of money, as I valued the freedom that having a little spending money gave me. My parents were not in a position where they could shower their children with money and gifts, and they never would have given us unearned money either.
I have had many jobs throughout my life, starting as a child, and most of them were hard work in nasty conditions with low pay. Some of them were downright dangerous or hazardous to my health.
If anyone ever wonders where I side in terms of entitlements, you may well know that I believe that I believe in work. Sometimes work may not even be directly related to a paycheck or the paycheck is retroactive to a hard life of work or compensation for having put one's self in a position to work but having a career cut short by a work-related condition or injury. Suffice it to say, that I believe that every person who is capable of work should do their best and do whatever the job entails. If you need to get up early or work all night, that's what you have to do. If your work is physically demanding, you work hard and be grateful for your employment. If your job requires you to put yourself in harm's way, understand the dangers and exercise safety. If you feel discomfort while working in your job, congratulations - join the ranks of the working class!
I've held some of the dirtiest jobs imaginable. I've shoveled crap out of chicken coops that were years overdue for cleaning. I've crawled into bilges on boats to get every drop of oil from underneath the engines... and had to apply vaporous paints and solvents in those confined spaces. I've gone to work, never knowing if that would be the night I would lose a limb... or my life. I've worked in live electrical panels and literally with fire and devices that had a tendency to explode in my face. I've had to confront my phobias of heights and hornets and do the job anyway. Many times I've had to delve into a project, not feeling confident in what I was doing, but learning as I worked. I've worked for low pay and sometimes no pay... and sweet moments where there was a substantial payoff. I've worked outside in below zero weather and in the triple digits... rain, snow, hail, storms... venomous spiders, wasps, dogs, snakes, deranged lunatics. I've crawled into septic tanks to unclog things that should never have been flushed. Folks, these are real jobs and somebody has to do them. I wouldn't consider myself a hero, by any stretch of the imagination but I do believe in work and I believe that no honorable job is beneath my dignity. I despise elitism and the sense of entitlement that has crept into our society in recent decades. I believe that every person who is capable, should contribute their fair share of work... I mean REAL work... to not only pay their way through life, but to make our society a better place. I don't believe that every job has to have direct compensation connected to it. We all benefit from the fruits of someone else's labors, so each of us should contribute in ways that are positive and constructive - even if it doesn't directly benefit us. It all starts by putting on the work shoes and making those steps in the direction of productivity. 
