Human Interest

NPR's Robert Siegel and Melissa Block hear two summer job stories this week, both about serving food in polyester uniforms. First, Martie Maguire of the Dixie Chicks talks about scooping ice cream in Dallas when she was a teenager. Then, listener Leslie DeLucia, of Urbana, Ill., takes us back to 1974 and the experience of being a 16-year-old worker at Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Today's summer job stories are about the moment young people turned into young capitalists. NPR's Robert Siegel reads a story from listener William Caldwell of Brentwood, Tenn., about how he earned $500 catching fireflies one summer. And listener Stacy Jackson of Denver recounts seizing opportunity at a gas line during the Arab oil embargo of 1973.

Today's summer job stories are about the moment young people turned into young capitalists. NPR's Robert Siegel reads a story from listener William Caldwell of Brentwood, Tenn., about how he earned $500 catching fireflies one summer. And listener Stacy Jackson of Denver recounts seizing opportunity at a gas line during the Arab oil embargo of 1973.

We've been hearing listeners' summer job stories all season long, and as the summer winds down, Melissa Block and Michele Norris hear John Hyduk of Cleveland tell his story, "Big Iron." Hyduk's avocation is writing, which he's supported over the years by working a number of blue-collar jobs in Cleveland. This story is about one of the first -- a carman's helper with the Norfolk and Western railroad.

We've been hearing listeners' summer job stories all season long, and as the summer winds down, Melissa Block and Michele Norris hear John Hyduk of Cleveland tell his story, "Big Iron." Hyduk's avocation is writing, which he's supported over the years by working a number of blue-collar jobs in Cleveland. This story is about one of the first -- a carman's helper with the Norfolk and Western railroad.

Factory work means you have to withstand being covered in starch and powdered sugar, and have your dreams haunted by thousands of Pillsbury Doughboys. In today's summer jobs stories, Melissa Block and Michele Norris hear from listeners about working the production lines in a gum factory and in a latex factory.

Factory work means you have to withstand being covered in starch and powdered sugar, and have your dreams haunted by thousands of Pillsbury Doughboys. In today's summer jobs stories, Melissa Block and Michele Norris hear from listeners about working the production lines in a gum factory and in a latex factory.

Examining cockroaches with rectal tumors, training would-be-spies, driving a hearse in Santa Barbara, and running the ball-picker at a golf course: just some of the odd-duck summer jobs Robert Siegel and Michele Norris hear about this week as our series continues.

Examining cockroaches with rectal tumors, training would-be-spies, driving a hearse in Santa Barbara, and running the ball-picker at a golf course: just some of the odd-duck summer jobs Robert Siegel and Michele Norris hear about this week as our series continues.

Throughout the summer, we've been sharing listener stories about the summer jobs that influenced them the most. Today, we hear about working the night shift at an Atlantic City Expressway gas station, and about working on Truitt's Rolling Store -- basically, a convenience store on wheels -- in rural Alabama.