"How old are you?", "Are you sure you're not still in high school?", "Are you old enough to be working in this type of occupation?", "There is absolutely no way you're nineteen.", "What do you mean you're only nineteen! Shouldn't you be in school?"
I hear these questions every single day. Walking into working every day warrants comments about being a "baby" or a "child." That's the thing about being a teenager who works in a factory.
I was seventeen by technicality, eighteen by legality (because I started work on my eighteenth birthday) when I started working for Conn-Selmer Inc., a company that manufactures musical instruments -- whether professional or for the kids in the school band. I stumbled across the job opening by pure accident. At the time, I was trying to get a job at TGI Friday's, but my mother thought I should apply at Conn-Selmer., too. A month went by after sending in my applications to both places, but only one called me back. I went in for my interview, hoping for the best. A woman took me around the shop, showing me the job I was applying for. All I could remember thinking about was how cool it would be for an ex band nerd to build the instruments they played. That, and the woman showing me around walked really fast.
After a couple weeks of waiting, I finally went in for my first day of work. The other employees I started with were all older than me, but when I come to think of it, everyone is. I somehow managed to land myself a job in a factory at eighteen when the rest of my friends were working at McDonald's or away at college.
As time went on, more people began to discover how young I was and - compared to a lot of fellow employees - still am. This came as absolutely no shock to me because I was used to being the youngest. I was one of the youngest students in my graduating class, as well as being the youngest of three kids. I was used to being younger than literally everyone around me, but this had reached a whole new level.
I've been with Conn-Selmer for a little bit over a year now, and I'm still the youngest employee. Sometimes it's hard to connect with the people because of the age gap. One of the oldest employees I work with is in their seventies. There are only a few other people close to my age, but in my department specifically, the co-worker closest to my age is four years older than I am. The next two age gaps after that are five years then ten years.
Even though I'm the youngest in my workplace, it doesn't really bother me all that much. Of course I always get snide comments about how "life is easy when you're eighteen and everything is handed to you," but for the most part, my coworkers treat me fairly decent. In fact, most of the women in my department are old enough to be my mother, and it clearly shows by the way they treat me. There's nothing wrong with having 37 moms looking out for you and your safety because let's get real, kid.
You're the baby.
