Obama says he learned responsibility, hard work from 1st job in Hawaii
ASSOCIATED PRESS / 2008
The Baskin-Robbins shop in McCully where President Barack Obama once worked. Obama says his unglamorous first job scooping ice cream as a teenager taught him valuable lessons about responsibility and hard work.
WASHINGTON » President Barack Obama says his unglamorous first job scooping ice cream taught him valuable lessons about responsibility and hard work.
He wants the same experience for other teenagers, particularly those without resources, and is launching a summer opportunities project to help young people land a first job that can teach them similar lessons and help send them down the right path.
The private sector, all levels of government, community groups and schools have pledged to help teenagers get their first jobs this summer.
“Scooping ice cream is tougher than it looks,” Obama said today in an essay on the LinkedIn professional networking site. “Rows and rows of rock-hard ice cream can be brutal on the wrists. … I was less interested in what the job meant for my future and more concerned about what it meant for my jump shot.
The job at a Baskin-Robbins in Honolulu “wasn’t exactly glamorous, but it taught me some valuable lessons,” Obama wrote. “Responsibility. Hard work. Balancing a job with friends, family and school.”
LinkedIn has pledged to connect millions of small- and medium-sized business leaders with organizations that help young people. The Department of Labor and the Corporation for National and Community Service together have committed $35 million to the effort.
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Cities, including Los Angeles, Seattle and Charlotte, North Carolina, have promised to help thousands of teenagers. The spending plan Obama sent Congress this month for the 2017 budget year includes $6 billion, nearly double the previous year’s request, to help more than 1 million young people get their first job.
Congress did not act on Obama’s request last year for $3 billion for youth employment programs. Lawmakers swiftly rejected Obama’s $.4.1 trillion spending proposal for the 2017 budget cycle as soon as he submitted it on Feb. 9.
Obama said landing that first job is already difficult, but even harder for the 1 in 7 Americans between the ages of 16 and 24 who aren’t in school or are unemployed. The new summer jobs initiative seeks to further the goals of Obama’s “My Brother’s Keeper” program to help boys and young men of color.
As unglamorous as scooping ice cream was, Obama said it gave him a chance to contribute to his community.
“And while I may have lost my taste for ice cream after one too many free scoops, I’ll never forget that job, or the people who gave me that opportunity, and how they helped me get to where I am today,” he said.
54 responses to “Obama says he learned responsibility, hard work from 1st job in Hawaii”
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Always worked growing up in Kapaa on Kauai, doing errands to working in the cane and pineapple fields, cannery, caddying, and delivery clerk in a retail/wholesale store during the summer months, and while attending high school in the late 30’s and early 40’s. Caddied at Wailua Golf Course when it was only a 9 holed course for $.25 a round. Usually doubled bagged. Tips were meager and remember a Scotsman who worked as the accountant for Lihue Sugar Plantation Co., who will remain unnamed offered 10 cents for 18 holes.
This is the SA. Not a Facebook page.
agree…I worked along side my Mom in a North Dakota truck stop for 3 years. Right outside the reservation and I learned a great deal about the rough and tumble world of long distance truckers, lot lizards and food. I agree with Obama that any job as a teen can help shape responsibility. Too few out here work or care to work. Low expectations and broken, indifferent families also hurt.
And why do you think so few care to work?
Heard those roomy truck cabs is where the fun is in private?
Read before you shoot, novice. What do you think she meant by “lot lizards”?
jcole. I thought I saw that word, lot lizard, on allie’s resume.
On his 8th year in office and Obama now cares about jobs. I guess he has been listening to Trump!
Lol! And he wants them all earning $15+/hr working at McD’s.
Thanks for that. Great snapshot of someone from another time who was raised right.
When American teenagers look around and see people who would rather not work but feel entitled to get “free” stuff………….what kind of lousy example is that?
Trillion dollar budgets? How about all those who work in any Government job take a 10% pay cut for a year then see where we are?
Wake up America, vote wisely this Fall, otherwise you get what you voted for.
#Alllivesmatter
It’s shocking that you would suggest mistreating folks in the Armed Forces like this. A 10% pay cut would be terrible for them.
Even my teenage puppies know that they got it made without any employment to their name living with me.
This is the SA. Not a Facebook page.
Is my GED teacher following me?
It’s a shame B&R doesn’t acknowledge that BO worked there. I mean who wouldn’t want extra business because a former employee is the POTUS? Is Dunkin/B&R a right leaning company? Can you imagine the Japanese tour buses that would stop there?
I worked a summer there back when the Cinerama Theater just down the street was still open. Man, you would think serving ice cream would attract happy, normal people right? Wrong! I met some of the strangest, meanest and most oddball people in my life at that job. And I have worked a lot of jobs.
ALLU. Mean people ssuckss. I rather have happy shiny people to serve to.
I always wished that a customer would order ice cream while cradling a puppy but alas it never happened.
Hence why Obama is no longer living in third world living conditions of Hawaii. He sure is a fast learner.
Was he serving raisin ice cream?
Only that I learned in Hawaii is that the failure of leadership here will dim my prospects to succeed.
Only thing…
My friends and I happened to stop by that ice cream parlor one evening when “Barry” was working there. The place was empty when the three of us walked in.
Barry was behind the counter talking to a co-worker, a white girl. Neither seemed very interested in helping us. There was no Hi you doing, what can I get for you etc from
either Barry or his co-worker. Barry seemed more interested in talking up his co-worker. We got our ice cream after Barry finally came over to take our orders.
He was rather aloof in his attitude and demeanor and seemed irritated that he had to break off his conversation with his co-worker.
None of us said anything, but when we walked out, we all commented about how uninterested Barry seemed to be about doing his job and his unfriendly demeanor.
Why this particular encounter with our future President stuck in my mind all these years, I do not know but it certainly made an impression.
From what I can tell, not much has changed with Barry. How he became the President of the United States is a mystery to me but then a lot about him remains a mystery.
Did you order one scoop vanilla, one scoop chocolate?
calentura. One paddle, two paddle,, Hawaiian song lyrics.
Not sure if this really happened but it seems somewhat credible. Most Punahou grads I have met seem arrogant and aloof though. Not sure Barry was different.
Lots of kids on welfare attend that school.
Come on – how can you recall that encounter so many years ago? Did you two know each other? Maybe he didn’t like you so he wasn’t so cordial.
fiveo should have sprayed some ginger perfume on his head. Both Barry and the bees will be attracted to you.
Five0, you been sucking on too much “two scoops of BS”. Lol. What a tusitala. NOT.
Mel Cabang the comedian was a regular when I worked there. He was a nice guy. Very intelligent and witty as you would expect. The one guy I remembered the most was an elderly man who dropped by every morning for a single scoop of chocolate ice cream in a sugar cone. He made a grumpy comment to me once that I didn’t give him enough ice cream. He was one of the oddball customers who patronized our store. Making the shakes and the dreaded Banana Split was the worst as they required the most ingredients and took the most time to make while other hungry customers waited. We had a ticket system where you pulled a number and waited your turn. One busy Saturday night I had to call the number 69 and was so embarrassed. I called out “6” “9” separately to soften the blow but the customer who had that number just yelled out, “SIXTY-NINE!” to make sure everyone in the store knew he had that special number. I could go on with the stories…..sigh.
Ah. The good old days when we never knew what cholesterol was. Never even had such a thing as low fat back then, neither. I would eat a whole half gallon carton of creamy, ice cream in one sitting as a kid.
That explains your condition – cryonics. You were one of the first to have your head frozen. Way ahead of our times, congratulations.
As a kid, I only became horn y after eating cold ice cream. My tree stump would salute the sky.
mike, you’re proof positive that brain freeze is permanent and irreversible. Thank you for doing your part for science.
Why does taxpayer money need to be used for youth job programs? Here’s a novel idea: Keep busybody politicians out of the free market. The 6 billion of taxpayer money little Barry is asking for just enables politicians to throw money around as if it were their own.
If Obama was a kid today, he would have learned from Wall Street just to beg for a free handout, and bailout.
Obviously his time at B&R didn’t transfer to the White House.
Hussein has not shown any “responsibility” in the “Job” that the American public trusted him with in keeping us safe and respected in the eyes of the world. Hopefully the next President can show better “responsibility” that Old Berry…
SA, can you do us all a favor and block “mikethenovice”….
IRT hawaiikone: I agree with you. Mike’s posts are usually irrelevant to the subject he is commenting on.
I agree. His comments are totally irrelevant
PAKI. I thought you like my puppy’s comments?
The Sunday’s SA has my quote from this weekly aray of comments.
SA should have an ignore button.
Its amazing this place has NO picture or reference to the president of the USA who worked at the store and it was his 1st job. Crzay, who owns this pace ?
Just can’t beat this retirement – hardly working.
Yep. We paid our dues to society. Time to kick back and enjoy the fruits of labor.
The story about the Beretania Street repair uses the word “crews” seven times. Omg.
That’s a nice way of saying one crew member is working while the other six are watching.
This means that there are always novices on the job, so buyer beware.
Working at Baskin-Robins is brutal? Slave labor.
Doesn’t it seem odd that there is nothing at the Baskin Robbins that notes Obama had his first job there? I don’t know, a photo of Obama or something?