When I was young, after moving to Australia, the very first job I worked was selling newspapers. The first week was just an internship, without a single cent. Don’t think that simply standing on the street and handing out newspapers is how you earn money.
It turned out that selling newspapers also had to be taught. Newspapers were distributed starting from 7 PM, but the peak time had to be from 10 PM onwards. At that time, people were returning from drinking at bars, feeling generous and easygoing, so they would conveniently buy more. Whenever encountering a couple walking together, rush in to sell. That was when sales were brisk because no one wanted to appear stingy to their girlfriend.
After selling newspapers near bars until around 11 PM, one had to hurriedly drag the newspapers to the intersection because at that time, people were taking taxis home in large numbers. The newspapers had to be arranged very neatly, exactly 10 copies in hand. Not too many, which would hinder sales.
One had to wait until the red light turned on for just a few seconds, dash out to where the cars stopped, hold the newspaper right next to the car window, at which point people would conveniently grab a $2 coin to buy a $0.9 newspaper. If at that moment one was cheerful and quick, the buyer would readily tell one to “keep the change,” which was the remaining $1.1.
Our newspaper seller gang made money thanks to that $1.1 tip money. Selling newspapers alone was not worth it, because for each newspaper we only earned 10 cents. Therefore, when bringing newspapers out during the stop light, the seller had to look neat, in high spirits, and act in a way as if feeling extremely honored to serve the readers. Seeing us cheerful, the buyers felt happy too, and when they were happy, they did not begrudge letting us “keep the change.”
During the first week of learning the trade, I didn’t earn a single cent. A few weeks later, every evening on average I earned about $30 for 8 hours of work. Especially on lucky days, I earned nearly $70. After each time selling newspapers until 2 AM, the happiest thing for us was that each kid was rewarded with a cold can of Coke. Never had Coke tasted so delicious, after 8 hours of waddling like ducks, sweating, and enduring all sorts of things (especially holding in… pee).
Later on, working all kinds of jobs, from teaching, research, consulting, business management, to investing, I always remember and feel grateful for those days of selling newspapers, the first job of my life. From that seemingly simple and manual job, I learned a great deal: patience, meticulousness, and especially an attitude of always remaining optimistic and cheerful. When you have done manual labor yet your attitude remains good and you still succeed, then there is nothing you cannot do.
Every time I encounter difficulties, I remind myself: “I was able to sell newspapers, expose my face on the street, and beam a wide smile while hungry and tired, so there is nothing I cannot do.”
Written on the occasion of netizens debating the case of a few young kids interning at McDonald’s through IvyPrep’s program. To this day, I still don’t understand why a big deal was made of it. Having the opportunity to intern and refine one’s attitude without having to pay tuition fees is exceptionally good. Why panic? If you cannot do small things, don’t think about doing big things.
A friend of mine, back when interning at a nuclear organization, probably the largest in the world, his mentor said: “Hey Thanh, don’t think that just because you’re a PhD coming into this institute for an internship you’re hot stuff. If I tell you to wipe the window glass, you must wipe it too. You must do everything.” My friend obediently did all the tasks. Later on, he became a leading research expert.
I am queuing up to send my child to intern at McDonald’s next year. The whole country has only 30 slots a year, what exploitation is there to speak of? Fortunately, one doesn’t have to pay them to teach one’s child. Good heavens, I hope McDonald’s doesn’t cancel it out of fear that “no good deed goes unpunished.”
Nguyen Quoc Toan
