Sasha Obama had a summer job... anyone else's teen working?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Isn't it weird that she works a 4 hr shift that ENDS 30 min after the restaurant opens? So she is done working at noon right at the peak of lunch?

I imagine Secret Service had something to do with this and it's probably safer her for not to have too much contact with the public -- but she gets a 30 min taste of the beginning of the lunch hour. What is going on at the restaurant from 8-11:30 am? I imagine there's some setting up of tables/dishes etc., maybe taking some takeout orders? But that seems like an odd shift to work before lunch really starts.

I take it you've never worked in the food service industry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn't it weird that she works a 4 hr shift that ENDS 30 min after the restaurant opens? So she is done working at noon right at the peak of lunch?

I imagine Secret Service had something to do with this and it's probably safer her for not to have too much contact with the public -- but she gets a 30 min taste of the beginning of the lunch hour. What is going on at the restaurant from 8-11:30 am? I imagine there's some setting up of tables/dishes etc., maybe taking some takeout orders? But that seems like an odd shift to work before lunch really starts.

I take it you've never worked in the food service industry.

No. So I'm asking. How much prep is there? I didn't realize that there was a morning shift at restaurants -- I figured people just arrived an hr or 2 before the opening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think she had a "summer" job. I think she worked for 2-4 weeks. That's not impressive to me.

I don't think it was even that long. My child would never be hired that late in the summer and then allowed to leave for a family vacation shortly after. But then again, she's not a First Daughter and accountability is a wee bit different for us peons.

[Anonymous]

Photo Op. Nothing more nothing less.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Photo Op. Nothing more nothing less.

If she'd worked the entire summer digging ditches for minimum wage, you'd still have something crappy to say about it.

[Anonymous]

NP here. I like the Obamas and the way they are rearing their daughters, but even I think this isn't *really* a summer job. It's hard to "keep it real" when your father is President of the Free World. In other words, gimme a break. Let's not even pretend she's going to work for pocket money like most kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its probably not the money so much as the experience.

Or appearance.

He has no more elections.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its probably not the money so much as the experience.

Or appearance.

He has no more elections.

Exactly this. For what reason does the Obama family care about the appearance that their daughter has a summer job?

My guess is that they wanted their DD to have a taste of real life. She lives a very privileged existence and is also circumscribed by her security detail. This is probably the best they could do for a 15-year-old child of the president.

Before opening, there is plenty of work to do. This place has both a sit-down restaurant and a take-out counter. She could be restocking napkin dispensers, restocking the refrigerators with bottled/canned beverages, setting tables, cleaning bathrooms, mopping floors, washing windows, emptying dishwasher racks from previous night. Food prep work: washing and slicing lettuce and tomatoes for sandwiches, slicing veggies for salads, mixing up cole slaw if they do it from scratch, filling ketchup and mustard bottles. Etc. I'm sure neither the secret service nor the restaurant owners nor their customers want her sitting at the take-out cash register all day--security issues likely make it a PITA for everyone. So the restaurant owner probably agreed to have her for 30 minutes at opening each day as a favor to the president.

It strikes me as extraordinarily mean-spirited to begrudge the children of sitting presidents the opportunity to live as normal a life as can be carved out for them. It strikes me as extraordinarily cynical and unfair to accuse the First Family of doing this for appearances only. My family is very comfortable financially and our teens didn't "need" jobs, but we insisted they get them (or volunteer their time if they preferred a volunteer activity) because we believe strongly that kids should have real working experience and that jobs are important learning experiences. And we actually preferred food service. It's *real* work, it can be physically difficult and sometimes not that pleasant, and in doing it you frequently meet people from various walks of life. Plus, it's a transferable skill that they can easily take to college, where our teens also worked for their own spending money. I was a waitress in college and consider it an important life experience.

[Anonymous]

At least she knows how to run the cash register. I don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its probably not the money so much as the experience.

Or appearance.

But if she wasn't working she would be a lazy black girl right? You're so transparent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Photo Op. Nothing more nothing less.

To impress who? PBO's political career is almost at the end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think she had a "summer" job. I think she worked for 2-4 weeks. That's not impressive to me.

I don't think it was even that long. My child would never be hired that late in the summer and then allowed to leave for a family vacation shortly after. But then again, she's not a First Daughter and accountability is a wee bit different for us peons.

It was a quick summer gig and since they knew it would eventually become worldwide news it was never going to be for very long. Malia's internships were on closed sets for security purposes and Sasha's safety precludes her from working a standard shift.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its probably not the money so much as the experience.

Or appearance.

But if she wasn't working she would be a lazy black girl right? You're so transparent.

I am black. Keep reaching.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Photo Op. Nothing more nothing less.

To impress who? PBO's political career is almost at the end.

His presidency is nearly done, but he's far from done being in the spot light.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn't it weird that she works a 4 hr shift that ENDS 30 min after the restaurant opens? So she is done working at noon right at the peak of lunch?

I imagine Secret Service had something to do with this and it's probably safer her for not to have too much contact with the public -- but she gets a 30 min taste of the beginning of the lunch hour. What is going on at the restaurant from 8-11:30 am? I imagine there's some setting up of tables/dishes etc., maybe taking some takeout orders? But that seems like an odd shift to work before lunch really starts.

I take it you've never worked in the food service industry.

No. So I'm asking. How much prep is there? I didn't realize that there was a morning shift at restaurants -- I figured people just arrived an hr or 2 before the opening.

There's a lot of prep. Taking chairs down, wiping down condensation, filling ketchup and mustard bottles, etc.