Non-Theatre Jobs in the "Real World"

I have been very lucky in that I have not had to work outside of Theatre too often.

While in High school I inherited my older brother's cleaning job at a local bank.
Each day after school I would work cleaning the main branch of the Oysterman's Bank, the attached lawyers' office and an insurance office across the street.
When we were done a couple of us would drive to one of the small bank branches and clean that too.
Our boss paid us for two and half hours to get it done, but it never took us more than an hour.
It didn't take too long and I still had time to eat and go back at night to work on the plays.
For a while I even worked for the bank itself.
I'm not sure of my title I did a bunch of odd jobs.
I filled orders in boxes to send to the branches; pens, paper, paper clips, printed forms, drive-thru envelopes and other fun items.
I think they had at least six ways to tell you that your loan was over due from a very polite note to one letter threatening to send Vinnie over to break your legs, or something along those lines.

The times in the 1970's were a bit more relaxed then today.
I would take blank checks and money orders on my bike a few miles to one of the small branch were I would stay and shred bank documents in the basement.
I was not bonded, didn't have a gun, but at 17 I did have a key to the bank.

While in college I did a few odd non-theatre jobs.
I worked for a Temp agency by day and did Theatre at night.
I painting fuel tanks, cleaned stores, but mostly it was stacking and moving items in warehouses.
One summer I worked a month or so with my brother in a metal shop that made "Radio Wave Proof" rooms that were used to protect early computers.
If you ever want to get really dirty you have to work in a metal shop.

After Grad School I again got to work with my older brother for a year in a Photographic Studio in NYC.
I built sets that were used in photos for items sold in JC Penny and other catalogues, so it was almost like Theatre work.
It was fun for a month or so but I was glad when I got to go back to Theatre full time and have never had to work another non-theatre job after that.

I do have one good story from my time at the Photo Studio.
One winter day I walked six or seven blocks to go buy paint needed for a job.
It was cold and icy and on the way back I slipped on the ice and a gallon of brown paint flew in the air and came dome on the sidewalk.
How do you clean paint off the sidewalk in the middle of Manhattan?
I tried to mop it up some with an old newspaper and covered it a bit but I could not do much.
So I had to go back and buy more paint.
On my return trip past the spill I saw a man in a suit getting up covered in paint.
I turned around and walked the long way back to work.
I have always assumed the man had to go to a store a buy new clothes before he could go to work or back home.

Yes I followed my older brother into theatre and a few jobs, but I did pay it back by getting my younger brother into theatre and got him a paying job one summer.
I had a few other little jobs here and there: I got paid to mow a lawn once, I sold greeting cards door-to-door (I think I had 1 order besides my mom), filled in helping paint a home on Fire Island and maybe a few other small jobs which have faded with time.

Again I have been lucky that I have been able to work in Theatre as much as I have.