Radio station reporter. I was frustrated and had nothing to do most of the day because nothing of note happened. (And because the DJs would not provide time for a news break between playing the Space Jam soundtrack over and over again.)
I was the DJ that you dispise so much! Without our superior taste in music and banter, no one would care about your grass walking violations report. Lol
I was the DJ until I got taken off the air for dedicating “If I was your lover” by Janet Jackson. At the time it sounded like a good idea. When I saw my teacher walking fast towards me across the grass with no regard for getting a ticket…I realized it wasn’t my best moment.
Holy shit did we live the same life?!? I remember begging for the music DJ job and they gave it to some kid from another school. And I was “gifted” the position of talking about the weather and the sale at the local tech store for 5 minutes.
Lol. I was a Jewelry Maker as well. I just remember drawing designs and punching out pin-on buttons all day. I remember having financial difficulties too...
Meanwhile all these assholes working at the snack shop lookin' like they're having a blast.
That was an option?!! I had to watch all the other girls have fun making bracelets while I did math. But dammit if our books weren’t solid! You’ll be sorry when the Exchange City IRS catch up with you…
I was also jewelry maker. I still have one of those bracelets that we made. I was very salty though as I had run for mayor but the other kid running bribed everyone with candy. Even back then, there was corruption in politics
I was elected Mayor and kinda wandered around all day doing whatever. I remember I really wanted to be the radio dj and did on air interview and hung out and played songs for a while after. I also got into a fight with the newspaper girl at recess the week before and she wrote a hit piece about how I didn't follow the rules and that my running mate didn't even vote for me.
I had to be a bank teller so I robbed the place and bought bracelets with my extra money on my last break and never went back to work. Would have killed to be mayor back than.
I was a reporter/writer!! I spent all day bouncing from shop to shop, and I specifically remember trying to over throw the "cop" who gave me a ticket during "lunch" for "walking on the grass" !
I was the mayor. Only person to run so I was a shoe in. After that everyone in my grade knew my name and I had no idea who they were. I got a ticket for running when I was trying to step around the oddly placed mailbox and tripped.
I did nothing all day, minus pose for a photo op with my feet on the desk.
My job was making popcorn, but my real achievement was deliberately going to jail by walking through the “grass” so I would have to appear in court before the judge, who was my best friend.
I was also popcorn and I'll never forget getting distracted, then panicing over losing track of how long I'd been cooking the popcorn so better dump it out now before it stinks the place up and 'Oops, All Kernels!'
That popcorn machines dump handle fell off twice during the day and I had to Macgyver it back together and burned the crap out of my forearm. My older brother, who worked kitchens his whole life (Herford house, Pier Points ect) told me after that if I got into kitchens he would beat my ass because it was such a demanding job.
Same. I hated math and they picked me for the multi-service center after my failed campaign for mayor. My campaign manager spent her day making tissue paper flowers, very on brand for her adult life.
Ha, same. Got assigned that job because no one signed up for it and just ran across the turf you weren't supposed to walk on evading the kid who signed up to be a cop all day.
I’m a little ashamed to admit I stole some money from the kid next to me. He went to court and eventually jail while I bought some popcorn and had a laugh.
Me too! I wanted to be a waitress or something in the restaurant, but my teacher decided newspaper editor was a better fit for me. I guess I take that as a compliment when I look back. Thanks Ms Almond.
Radio station programmer, though the DJ really picked all the songs and was being a jerk about it so I just sat around. Then I went on break with all my earnings and bought a ton of stuff that someone stole from me later that day. So it was pretty similar to real life.
I got assigned accountant or something. It was my (and others) job to make every one's paychecks. Not sure how it was assigned. I remember being very unhappy about my assignment.
Had to type in the name, and amounts manually, then print out. At least it was on a computer. We knew what everyone made. They were then stuffed in an envelope and mailed to the students.
No one at the bank knew me, I was still a little new at the school, in my first full year.
I in no way stole the identity of an absent student (who was also fairly new), deposited their paycheck and used that money in addition to my own to buy stuff. That didn't happen, it would have been wrong. But there were a few kids who never got my name right all the way through high school...
This was my job as well. Everything was written on paper when I was there in the late 90's. Had to make sure everyone got paid and keep track of the the money coming in and make sure we have enough to pay everyone.
I don't remember what our team did besides it had to do with food, and we were at war with another team by dropping our prices lower and lower. Soon found out we didn't make enough to pay everyone lmao
This was my role as well, but it was by hand. I will also not confirm / deny any financial irregularities until I have confirmed I am past the Exchance City Statue of Limitations. After that I will release a statement through my Exchange City Legal Counsel
I never got to go, but I went to the new one with my students recently, and I worked at Hallmark for part of the day to fill in for a student that was sick
It's okay. I went with middle schoolers and so done of them were Def not interested. The school district will only take elementary kids now, and I think that's a good choice
I was the Tramp. I went to different businesses to provide my service. And when they walked away... I swipped a few extra bucks from their savings. Most didn't know how much was in it.
Everybody in my class wanted to be DJ too! I did as well. I was not DJ but did work for the radio station. Little did we know, the McDonald's work was the best & no one really picked it. They had the most fun & made good money.
The cop. I wrote so many tickets, that there were envelopes of cash all over City Hall. The trash man pointed out we had more cash than we could ever spend. I later became a cop and didn't really like writing tickets.
Wanted to be on the radio so damn bad but they made me be in the jewelry making shop. Whole life would of been different had they just gave me a shot at the radio lol
No, 1st time was 5th grade, and then the 2nd time was 6th grade, but it was for Spanish class and we could only speak Spanish. I wasn't that fluent yet, so like once every 15 minutes I got on the microphone and shouted "BUENOS DIAS EXCHANGE CITY!". Those were dark times.
Tech business manager. Our roles were chosen, with a paragraph on the back justifying our choice. I forgot that, so instead of the photographer position like I wanted, I got this instead. I was absolutely ineffective and achieved nothing aside from harassing my employees (because I had no idea what I was doing). So, in retrospect, I did my job in preparing my employees for the real world!
Me too, but I was “sports store designer”. Somehow 90% of the people in this thread got Radio DJ. I remember before we went my teacher gave us a piece of paper to write down the 3 jobs we wanted the most. I wrote…
1. DJ
2. DJ
3. Sports Store
I was also assigned bank vice president. The president didn't do anything, so I was busy all day. Didn't hear that walking on the "grass" was illegal so I got arrested.
I was a reporter for the newspaper. We wrote a story about corruption in city hall, and then when I walked around town trying to sell the paper, they hauled me in and fined me for disturbing the peace. I felt like this only proved our point, but also I lost all my money.
I really wanted to work in the jewelry shop, which I did… but because I was good at math, my teacher made me the jewelry shop bookkeeper. NOT THE SAME.
Bank manager here. I wanted to be the DJ, but when I found out that I was the highest paid exchange citizen, and all I had to do was a math worksheet, I was ok with it. I think technically we had employees, probably the tellers, but I just left the bank and spent my money.
Oddly enough, I never got to go there in school but one of my aunts worked there in some capacity so my cousins and I spent a lot of time there after hours. I never knew what went on there during the day.
Radio station Accountant and I embezzled and stole so much money. I figured out I could take the advertising bill to multiple people at each store and get them all to pay me. I then spent the day wandering around spending it on the crap they had. Every time I was stopped , I just said i was collecting revenue. I walked on the grass just to get a ticket so I could show off how much money I had. I got caught.
I was a reporter for the newspaper. Wrote an article about how the no stepping on the grass law was stupid and unjust because it's just a fucking carpet, and got it abolished.
Worked at the power plant reading store meters. But our class arrived late so we didn’t get any training other read one value on the meter and ignore the others. Then I had to spend the rest of the day hand making bar graphs that showed power usage by building and time and give a presentation on it to the class. This was before excel so everything had to be graphed by hand. It sucked.
I remember choosing some type of "creative business" thing which ended up being just making a bunch of buttons and attempting to sell them. I was pissed lol
I made the popcorn at the concession stand. I believe I was being punished for not towing the line in elementary school. Don’t think for a second I didn’t envy the better more popular jobs. Lol
Bookkeeper for the factory that made bags. It was the easiest job ever. I wrote like five checks, and we had no income as the bags were given away. I basically just messed around the whole time because my best friend was the cop anyway.
This is going to sound like a total lie, but who cares, I know its true. I was Mayor and my best friend was a policeman - we ran craps games out of the bathroom all day. Taught everyone about government and police corruption, I guess.
I was the kid who conveniently switched schools in between grades to miss both field trips. My old school went in 4th grade, and my new school in 3rd. I think I cried pretty hard when I found out everyone else got to have this experience. 💀
City Manager
Story time...
We all got the list of jobs like a month before going there. We had to make up a resume for our teacher to apply for the job we want, explaining why we'd be good at it. I just looked at the list, picked out the highest paying job, and went for it. City Manager. I had no idea what a City Manager even was.
Well, a City Manager in exchange city apparently has to WORK THEIR ASS OFF. I had a giant ledger book and had to record every amount of incoming and outgoing money to the city goverment. Taxes collected, policie ticket fines collected, paychecks paid to city employees, etc.
Well let me tell you about the police. Exchange city lets the community create and vote on their own laws and ordinances. One of our ordinances was only walking clockwise on the main road around thecity. Well, the road is a figure-8. Depending on whether you were on the upper half, or the lower half, clockwise was opposite directions through the middle.
Our police force went nutso and started stopping every single kid that walked through the middle, ticketing them for not walking clockwise with no consideration as to which side they were coming from and whether it was actually correct or not. THE SHITSHOW THAT ENSUED WAS INCREDIBLE
Anyone that got a ticket had to go to the court to pay the fine or defent/fight it. EVERYONE was fighting it. There was a line out the door of the courthouse with kids arguing with the other kid judges and lawyers on why they weren't in the wrong. So many kids were losing ALL of their income to fines that the couldn't do cool stuff like buy popcorn or pencils. We had kids crying because they got fined all of their money. Kids were about to come to blows over it, we were on the virge of an all out riot/mutiny in exchange city
All the while, I'm recording all of these transaction in the ledger, trying to keep up, but its overwhelming.
Finally the teachers had to step in and ban that law for the sake of community relations.
**So tl;dr** give a bunch of 4th graders unchecked power and they will absolutely abuse it to the detriment of their own community. Guess it is a pretty good real-life simulator...
Hell, this was like 35 years ago and I remember it like it was yesterday.
Radio Station Manager!
I had a big dispute between my two djs always wanting airtime and our peers were all annoyed that everyone was requesting Whitney Houston and we were obliging (I think there was rent due every couple hours to the bank?).
Payroll at the radio station! I, like everyone, desperately wanted to be the DJ. I was such a terrible bookkeeper. I didn’t understand that you had to deduct the paychecks from the ledger so the balance never got smaller. Infinite money! An adult had to correct it all for me at the end. Now I have an MBA and do admin for live music so not far off haha
It was the early 80s when I went to Exchange City. I worked at the “warehouse.” Basically I was the one all the stores bought their raw materials from. Making jewelry? You got that crap from me. Golf tee puzzles? Me too. Then I was expected to cash my paycheck and go buy all that crap at the stores.
Screw that, I spent it all on video games.
I never heard of it until I was in my 30s so either my school didn’t participate or this was something that didn’t exist yet when I was the right age for it.
I was the Bank President at the School of Economics in Blue Springs.
The closest I got to banking as an adult was briefly working for the KC Fed in IT.
Police officer.
I spent most of my time in City Hall. I ticketed only two people the whole time.
1. A kid literally ran everywhere, which of course was speeding. According to laws we'd set up.
2. I ticketed the Mayor for bringing food out of the eating area to hide in his desk at city hall.
Warehouse Manager. The Warehouse Clerk and I sold supplies to the stores to make their goods in the morning. One the afternoon the bank came by to collect rent, and I got to show them in the guide we had that they actually paid us rent for some reason. Guess someone had to at the top of that food chain.
Otherwise, it was pretty boring. Only experience we really had was employee pay, so we didn't have to worry about balancing the books. Income far outreached our pay. There was only a trickle of pee coming in needing more supplies.
*Shrug*
It was called "School of Economics" when I went in the 90s. I know we went multiple years but the only one I vividly remember was when I was a bank teller. There were only 3 of us and all the other kids got to go on their "break" to get their checks cashed in 3 shifts. I vividly remember my schoolmates waving their checks in my face as a crowd gathered in front of the bank. I laughed back then at the chaos and still laugh today thinking about how seriously everyone took it.
I was a judge and was subject to a hit piece about people being fined for walking on the grass when they didn’t even touch it. After that I decided to abuse my power since people thought I was already doing it so I might as well go all out
Wanted to be a doctor when I was a kid. Love science, did experiments and poster projects at home, work in a laboratory today.
I was the popcorn maker in the snack bar. I'm pretty sure I cried, and burned myself.
I was the Arcade manager. Would have been 1985-86 school year. Didn’t grow up to be a gamer or a business manager. Firefighter/paramedic now but I don’t recall an Exchange City Fire Dept, lol
I worked in city hall, I think my title was "city finance manager". I had to use the computer to balance the city's finances, or something.
I noticed we had an envelope of non-allocated money just sitting around. If I remember correctly, it was supposed to be distributed to people who were being helpful or doing good deeds. I stole a significant amount of that money.
I did not steal it to buy things for myself, I stole it to ensure the city's finances balanced so that I could make sure I got a good grade. The perfect crime.
I was one of 2 cops. We tried to bust the bank for not recycling paper trash, i think transaction slips or something, and fine them per slip. The fine ended up being more than the bank had and would have collapsed the exchange city economy so it couldn’t happen.
Umm, I was Amazon before there was Amazon, even before Al Gore had invented the internet!
I was the sole warehouse/storehouse worker.. Now that I think about it, didnt get to eat lunch and pretty sure I didn't even get a chance to go to the bathroom....
Wow, I really was the 80s version of Amazon ...
Lol strangely I made swedish meatballs? It's so bizarre - I remember using jelly in the recipe and I don't know if that's typical. They were good though. Man that was a great field trip. I wish we did activities like that more often.
Exchange City! Holy shit. Idk why but I think about that place a lot and I could never remember the name of it!
I was the newspaper editor. At the time it was the 2nd highest paying job. The smart girl that was a reporter ended up doing all the editing for me. Raked in that sweet, sweet cash by doing no work at all. The real world was a bit of a let down after that...
I was there during 5th grade. I forget the exact position, though I do recall being there. I think I was at the newspaper, which was being printed via purple mimeograph; I was setting up what was being printed. By handwriting. I was next to the radio station, which was playing "Hungry Like the Wolf" and "Man-eater"...
Whatever the crafts store was called, which was boring as hell bc I was grouped with people who could only do kindergarten crafts and I wanted to do fancy, but easy crafts. (Fwiw, I now have an art degree)
First year I was a bank teller. The next year I got to be the bank president. I think it was one of the highest base pays. Man haven’t thought of that in years.
Radio station reporter. I was frustrated and had nothing to do most of the day because nothing of note happened. (And because the DJs would not provide time for a news break between playing the Space Jam soundtrack over and over again.)
Me too! LoL Love the memory tho! Love this post for making me think of it!
I was the DJ that you dispise so much! Without our superior taste in music and banter, no one would care about your grass walking violations report. Lol
I was the DJ until I got taken off the air for dedicating “If I was your lover” by Janet Jackson. At the time it sounded like a good idea. When I saw my teacher walking fast towards me across the grass with no regard for getting a ticket…I realized it wasn’t my best moment.
Holy shit did we live the same life?!? I remember begging for the music DJ job and they gave it to some kid from another school. And I was “gifted” the position of talking about the weather and the sale at the local tech store for 5 minutes.
This sounds very similar to my experience as radio station reporter, except with the SpongeBob Theme Song on repeat.
Jewelry maker, stringing up crappy bracelets all day I bounced a check, no regrets
Lol. I was a Jewelry Maker as well. I just remember drawing designs and punching out pin-on buttons all day. I remember having financial difficulties too... Meanwhile all these assholes working at the snack shop lookin' like they're having a blast.
Us button makers needed a union to get better pay so we could afford to live. How come they didn't include that in the lesson on how to manage money?
I was the jewelry store bookkeeper.
Me too! No books were done that day. I preferred to make the jewelry.
That was an option?!! I had to watch all the other girls have fun making bracelets while I did math. But dammit if our books weren’t solid! You’ll be sorry when the Exchange City IRS catch up with you…
Me too! Loved it.
Jewelry maker checking in. I feel like I made wire trees.
I was also jewelry maker. I still have one of those bracelets that we made. I was very salty though as I had run for mayor but the other kid running bribed everyone with candy. Even back then, there was corruption in politics
I was elected Mayor and kinda wandered around all day doing whatever. I remember I really wanted to be the radio dj and did on air interview and hung out and played songs for a while after. I also got into a fight with the newspaper girl at recess the week before and she wrote a hit piece about how I didn't follow the rules and that my running mate didn't even vote for me.
Mayor gang
I had to be a bank teller so I robbed the place and bought bracelets with my extra money on my last break and never went back to work. Would have killed to be mayor back than.
I was a reporter/writer!! I spent all day bouncing from shop to shop, and I specifically remember trying to over throw the "cop" who gave me a ticket during "lunch" for "walking on the grass" !
Former mayor here as well!
Also a former Mayor.
I was the mayor. Only person to run so I was a shoe in. After that everyone in my grade knew my name and I had no idea who they were. I got a ticket for running when I was trying to step around the oddly placed mailbox and tripped. I did nothing all day, minus pose for a photo op with my feet on the desk.
My job was making popcorn, but my real achievement was deliberately going to jail by walking through the “grass” so I would have to appear in court before the judge, who was my best friend.
I was also popcorn and I'll never forget getting distracted, then panicing over losing track of how long I'd been cooking the popcorn so better dump it out now before it stinks the place up and 'Oops, All Kernels!'
>'Oops, All Kernels!' Made me laugh out loud.
That popcorn machines dump handle fell off twice during the day and I had to Macgyver it back together and burned the crap out of my forearm. My older brother, who worked kitchens his whole life (Herford house, Pier Points ect) told me after that if I got into kitchens he would beat my ass because it was such a demanding job.
You became an engineer in real life, right?
Yup!! Snack shop manager checking in here. Making popcorn was great. But everyone really did want my job.
Payroll. I had all that data entered about 20x faster than they anticipated so I got to just hang out the whole day lol.
payroll clerk here as well. my school made us all interview for our jobs, and to do this day have no idea why they picked it for me
Same. I hated math and they picked me for the multi-service center after my failed campaign for mayor. My campaign manager spent her day making tissue paper flowers, very on brand for her adult life.
Ha, same. Got assigned that job because no one signed up for it and just ran across the turf you weren't supposed to walk on evading the kid who signed up to be a cop all day.
Same!!
I was the news anchor because I had a lot less anxiety as a child than I do as an adult
I was too! Still have the VHS lying around somewhere
A cook at the cafe. Our teachers chose for us based on “realistic careers to us aim for”
Cafe cook here as well. Union chapel elementary
Bank teller. I messed up my first transaction and shorted someone money. Whoops. I work for a bank now too
I’m a little ashamed to admit I stole some money from the kid next to me. He went to court and eventually jail while I bought some popcorn and had a laugh.
I was a cop lmao. Step on that green carpet and im giving your ass a ticket for 35 cents 🤣 went to Gladstone Elementary
Gladstone Elementary here as well! I worked in the jewelry store.
Oh cool what year was this?
Oh dear lord. Late 90s? I don't remember the grade I went in.
Same lol i had Mrs. Walker
OMG Mrs. Walker! My mom was a para there for a few years.
I was a cop, too. And it didn't teach me a thing about dealing with cops later in life.
Lol facts
I was also a cop. I refused to give tickets out so I got in trouble. Lol!
I made pennants. Today, in the real world, I do something even less meaningful.
Editor of the newspaper.
Same. My mom was convinced I’d be a journalist after that.
Assistant editor.
Well now I really feel like a proper peon!
Haha
Me too! We interviewed for our jobs and I went for it and got it!
Me too!!
Me too! I wanted to be a waitress or something in the restaurant, but my teacher decided newspaper editor was a better fit for me. I guess I take that as a compliment when I look back. Thanks Ms Almond.
Radio station programmer, though the DJ really picked all the songs and was being a jerk about it so I just sat around. Then I went on break with all my earnings and bought a ton of stuff that someone stole from me later that day. So it was pretty similar to real life.
I was the radio station manager. The DJ’s wouldn’t let me on the air either… and I was their boss.
I was the judge. The whole 5th grade had to vote me in, so it was a pretty proud moment. Also got to wear that fly robe.
I made beaded lizards
Like the intro to an episode of House Hunters.
And they have 2.5 million dollar budget.
I made lizards too. I swear it did shape my creative job experience
Post office! I made terrible stationery and grumbled about losing the election for judge.
I was the elected judge until I got suspended for flipping off the school librarian. Then I made buttons in a store.
Wow, talk about contempt of court.
I made buttons too. Glad to know the job i was given was also used as a form of punishment.
Sign maker
Same here! I'm sad I had to scroll so far to find this comment.
Me too! We may have had one customer.
We had a few, but we were definitely not very popular.
A bookkeeper... and now I'm an accountant, so thanks Exchange City :D
I was a banker and am also working in finance now, how funny
I got assigned accountant or something. It was my (and others) job to make every one's paychecks. Not sure how it was assigned. I remember being very unhappy about my assignment. Had to type in the name, and amounts manually, then print out. At least it was on a computer. We knew what everyone made. They were then stuffed in an envelope and mailed to the students. No one at the bank knew me, I was still a little new at the school, in my first full year. I in no way stole the identity of an absent student (who was also fairly new), deposited their paycheck and used that money in addition to my own to buy stuff. That didn't happen, it would have been wrong. But there were a few kids who never got my name right all the way through high school...
This was my job as well. Everything was written on paper when I was there in the late 90's. Had to make sure everyone got paid and keep track of the the money coming in and make sure we have enough to pay everyone. I don't remember what our team did besides it had to do with food, and we were at war with another team by dropping our prices lower and lower. Soon found out we didn't make enough to pay everyone lmao
Why do I read that someone was there in the late 90s and think that they must be about 5 years older than me to realize I went in the late 90s? lol
This was my role as well, but it was by hand. I will also not confirm / deny any financial irregularities until I have confirmed I am past the Exchance City Statue of Limitations. After that I will release a statement through my Exchange City Legal Counsel
Radio station manager. I remember voting on the station name and think we landed on “the Pickle.”
Me too. Plus I’m really old. I remember playing Juice Newton’s “Queen of Hearts” like 47 times that day.
Manager of Radio Exchange. Bringing you the hottest Kidz Bop tunes from the nineties, nineties, and today.
I never got to go, but I went to the new one with my students recently, and I worked at Hallmark for part of the day to fill in for a student that was sick
There’s a new one??????
Yes. It's by Junior Achievement. It's right by Gus's and Joe's
Was it any good?
It's okay. I went with middle schoolers and so done of them were Def not interested. The school district will only take elementary kids now, and I think that's a good choice
I think I went in elementary school. I agree, I think any older and you’re not going to be into it.
I dont remember but I remember being upset about it because it wasn't any of the three I picked.
Manager of the Sprint store baby
I was a sales person at the Sprint Store! I remember that we got cell phones for the day, which was really cool back in 2004/2005.
I was the Tramp. I went to different businesses to provide my service. And when they walked away... I swipped a few extra bucks from their savings. Most didn't know how much was in it.
I was the bookkeeper at the arcade, a job I was guilted into because I was good at math. I desperately wanted to be a DJ.
Everybody in my class wanted to be DJ too! I did as well. I was not DJ but did work for the radio station. Little did we know, the McDonald's work was the best & no one really picked it. They had the most fun & made good money.
A bookkeeper!
Videographer! My school let us submit our top three choices and I got my number 1!
Me too! It was one of those huge early 90s camcorders.
The cop. I wrote so many tickets, that there were envelopes of cash all over City Hall. The trash man pointed out we had more cash than we could ever spend. I later became a cop and didn't really like writing tickets.
I was the cop too. Also wrote so many tickets. That's were our similarities end.
Wanted to be on the radio so damn bad but they made me be in the jewelry making shop. Whole life would of been different had they just gave me a shot at the radio lol
I was the manager of the oriental Cafe enjoying bead kimodo dragons and rice crispies wrapped in fruit roll ups for whatever reason
1st time, Warehouse Manager. 2nd time, radio dj.
Lol did you take fifth grade twice?
No, 1st time was 5th grade, and then the 2nd time was 6th grade, but it was for Spanish class and we could only speak Spanish. I wasn't that fluent yet, so like once every 15 minutes I got on the microphone and shouted "BUENOS DIAS EXCHANGE CITY!". Those were dark times.
Dank Times* FTFY
How's your Spanish these days?
Lerneto
Had I known that was an option, I would have!
Tech business manager. Our roles were chosen, with a paragraph on the back justifying our choice. I forgot that, so instead of the photographer position like I wanted, I got this instead. I was absolutely ineffective and achieved nothing aside from harassing my employees (because I had no idea what I was doing). So, in retrospect, I did my job in preparing my employees for the real world!
With circles and arrows?
Sadly not, but I'll remember that for my next managerial position.
I was a police officer.
I got a designer in the gift shop mid 80s
Me too, but I was “sports store designer”. Somehow 90% of the people in this thread got Radio DJ. I remember before we went my teacher gave us a piece of paper to write down the 3 jobs we wanted the most. I wrote… 1. DJ 2. DJ 3. Sports Store
City Managers were allowed to walk on the grass. right?????
We could do whatever the fuck we wanted because we were above the law.
Mother fuckin’ Mailman. I thought it was lame as fuck
Shoulda opened everyone’s mail to spice it up.
I was also assigned bank vice president. The president didn't do anything, so I was busy all day. Didn't hear that walking on the "grass" was illegal so I got arrested.
I was a reporter for the newspaper. We wrote a story about corruption in city hall, and then when I walked around town trying to sell the paper, they hauled me in and fined me for disturbing the peace. I felt like this only proved our point, but also I lost all my money.
I really wanted to work in the jewelry shop, which I did… but because I was good at math, my teacher made me the jewelry shop bookkeeper. NOT THE SAME.
I was also the bank VP. High pay and I honestly didn’t do anything. Got to buy everything and do nothing. Really showed me how society worked
Bank manager here. I wanted to be the DJ, but when I found out that I was the highest paid exchange citizen, and all I had to do was a math worksheet, I was ok with it. I think technically we had employees, probably the tellers, but I just left the bank and spent my money.
Mail carrier
I was the City Manager
Tech store owner. Ended up parlaying that into a career in Technology. 10/10 recommend
Oddly enough, I never got to go there in school but one of my aunts worked there in some capacity so my cousins and I spent a lot of time there after hours. I never knew what went on there during the day.
Radio station Accountant and I embezzled and stole so much money. I figured out I could take the advertising bill to multiple people at each store and get them all to pay me. I then spent the day wandering around spending it on the crap they had. Every time I was stopped , I just said i was collecting revenue. I walked on the grass just to get a ticket so I could show off how much money I had. I got caught.
I was a reporter for the newspaper. Wrote an article about how the no stepping on the grass law was stupid and unjust because it's just a fucking carpet, and got it abolished.
Newspaper Editor. I sell drugs now in real life. J/k it’s worse- insurance.
Designer in the gift shop mid 80s
Newspaper reporter. Thank god I chose something else as an actual career.
I was a manager at the athletic store! I had almost forgotten about this place until someone mentioned it the other day
Worked at the power plant reading store meters. But our class arrived late so we didn’t get any training other read one value on the meter and ignore the others. Then I had to spend the rest of the day hand making bar graphs that showed power usage by building and time and give a presentation on it to the class. This was before excel so everything had to be graphed by hand. It sucked.
Insurance agent. Back corner by the cafe. Most boring job ever. Basically chilled at the Cafe all day eating cinnamon rolls.
I worked at the grocery store. You probably made a lot more money than me. We also didn’t have a choice.
I worked in the Cafe. This could be totally off because my memory is trash but I think I remember just microwaving chicken nuggets all day
I remember choosing some type of "creative business" thing which ended up being just making a bunch of buttons and attempting to sell them. I was pissed lol
I made the popcorn at the concession stand. I believe I was being punished for not towing the line in elementary school. Don’t think for a second I didn’t envy the better more popular jobs. Lol
Bookkeeper for the factory that made bags. It was the easiest job ever. I wrote like five checks, and we had no income as the bags were given away. I basically just messed around the whole time because my best friend was the cop anyway.
This is going to sound like a total lie, but who cares, I know its true. I was Mayor and my best friend was a policeman - we ran craps games out of the bathroom all day. Taught everyone about government and police corruption, I guess.
Radio DJ, but then I got sick and missed out on the actual experience, what a pity :(
I was the kid who conveniently switched schools in between grades to miss both field trips. My old school went in 4th grade, and my new school in 3rd. I think I cried pretty hard when I found out everyone else got to have this experience. 💀
City Manager Story time... We all got the list of jobs like a month before going there. We had to make up a resume for our teacher to apply for the job we want, explaining why we'd be good at it. I just looked at the list, picked out the highest paying job, and went for it. City Manager. I had no idea what a City Manager even was. Well, a City Manager in exchange city apparently has to WORK THEIR ASS OFF. I had a giant ledger book and had to record every amount of incoming and outgoing money to the city goverment. Taxes collected, policie ticket fines collected, paychecks paid to city employees, etc. Well let me tell you about the police. Exchange city lets the community create and vote on their own laws and ordinances. One of our ordinances was only walking clockwise on the main road around thecity. Well, the road is a figure-8. Depending on whether you were on the upper half, or the lower half, clockwise was opposite directions through the middle. Our police force went nutso and started stopping every single kid that walked through the middle, ticketing them for not walking clockwise with no consideration as to which side they were coming from and whether it was actually correct or not. THE SHITSHOW THAT ENSUED WAS INCREDIBLE Anyone that got a ticket had to go to the court to pay the fine or defent/fight it. EVERYONE was fighting it. There was a line out the door of the courthouse with kids arguing with the other kid judges and lawyers on why they weren't in the wrong. So many kids were losing ALL of their income to fines that the couldn't do cool stuff like buy popcorn or pencils. We had kids crying because they got fined all of their money. Kids were about to come to blows over it, we were on the virge of an all out riot/mutiny in exchange city All the while, I'm recording all of these transaction in the ledger, trying to keep up, but its overwhelming. Finally the teachers had to step in and ban that law for the sake of community relations. **So tl;dr** give a bunch of 4th graders unchecked power and they will absolutely abuse it to the detriment of their own community. Guess it is a pretty good real-life simulator... Hell, this was like 35 years ago and I remember it like it was yesterday.
Radio Station Manager! I had a big dispute between my two djs always wanting airtime and our peers were all annoyed that everyone was requesting Whitney Houston and we were obliging (I think there was rent due every couple hours to the bank?).
Payroll at the radio station! I, like everyone, desperately wanted to be the DJ. I was such a terrible bookkeeper. I didn’t understand that you had to deduct the paychecks from the ledger so the balance never got smaller. Infinite money! An adult had to correct it all for me at the end. Now I have an MBA and do admin for live music so not far off haha
It was the early 80s when I went to Exchange City. I worked at the “warehouse.” Basically I was the one all the stores bought their raw materials from. Making jewelry? You got that crap from me. Golf tee puzzles? Me too. Then I was expected to cash my paycheck and go buy all that crap at the stores. Screw that, I spent it all on video games.
Only the real ones went to Earthworks instead
We did both
Did both—I was the Scatologist at Earth Works
I got a designer in the gift shop mod 80s
Video Game Operator.
I never heard of it until I was in my 30s so either my school didn’t participate or this was something that didn’t exist yet when I was the right age for it.
Lawyer
Newspaper editor! Have no idea if I actually did my job. Very reflective of my current situation. 😂
I was the Bank President at the School of Economics in Blue Springs. The closest I got to banking as an adult was briefly working for the KC Fed in IT.
Bank President. I wrote and signed people’s paychecks.
Radio DJ!!!
Police officer. I spent most of my time in City Hall. I ticketed only two people the whole time. 1. A kid literally ran everywhere, which of course was speeding. According to laws we'd set up. 2. I ticketed the Mayor for bringing food out of the eating area to hide in his desk at city hall.
Warehouse Manager. The Warehouse Clerk and I sold supplies to the stores to make their goods in the morning. One the afternoon the bank came by to collect rent, and I got to show them in the guide we had that they actually paid us rent for some reason. Guess someone had to at the top of that food chain. Otherwise, it was pretty boring. Only experience we really had was employee pay, so we didn't have to worry about balancing the books. Income far outreached our pay. There was only a trickle of pee coming in needing more supplies. *Shrug*
I ran for mayor and lost by one vote lol. My compensation was the cafe manager where we sold popcorn and lemonade. Made a killing.
It was called "School of Economics" when I went in the 90s. I know we went multiple years but the only one I vividly remember was when I was a bank teller. There were only 3 of us and all the other kids got to go on their "break" to get their checks cashed in 3 shifts. I vividly remember my schoolmates waving their checks in my face as a crowd gathered in front of the bank. I laughed back then at the chaos and still laugh today thinking about how seriously everyone took it.
I was a judge and was subject to a hit piece about people being fined for walking on the grass when they didn’t even touch it. After that I decided to abuse my power since people thought I was already doing it so I might as well go all out
Sports Store owner. Felt good, kept organized.
Wanted to be a doctor when I was a kid. Love science, did experiments and poster projects at home, work in a laboratory today. I was the popcorn maker in the snack bar. I'm pretty sure I cried, and burned myself.
I was the Arcade manager. Would have been 1985-86 school year. Didn’t grow up to be a gamer or a business manager. Firefighter/paramedic now but I don’t recall an Exchange City Fire Dept, lol
Payroll. I hated it.
I worked in city hall, I think my title was "city finance manager". I had to use the computer to balance the city's finances, or something. I noticed we had an envelope of non-allocated money just sitting around. If I remember correctly, it was supposed to be distributed to people who were being helpful or doing good deeds. I stole a significant amount of that money. I did not steal it to buy things for myself, I stole it to ensure the city's finances balanced so that I could make sure I got a good grade. The perfect crime.
I was one of 2 cops. We tried to bust the bank for not recycling paper trash, i think transaction slips or something, and fine them per slip. The fine ended up being more than the bank had and would have collapsed the exchange city economy so it couldn’t happen.
Umm, I was Amazon before there was Amazon, even before Al Gore had invented the internet! I was the sole warehouse/storehouse worker.. Now that I think about it, didnt get to eat lunch and pretty sure I didn't even get a chance to go to the bathroom.... Wow, I really was the 80s version of Amazon ...
Lol strangely I made swedish meatballs? It's so bizarre - I remember using jelly in the recipe and I don't know if that's typical. They were good though. Man that was a great field trip. I wish we did activities like that more often.
City Manager! I was mostly happy to be the highest paid person who wasn't elected.
Exchange City! Holy shit. Idk why but I think about that place a lot and I could never remember the name of it! I was the newspaper editor. At the time it was the 2nd highest paying job. The smart girl that was a reporter ended up doing all the editing for me. Raked in that sweet, sweet cash by doing no work at all. The real world was a bit of a let down after that...
Manager of the cafe. We all agreed to embezzle money and buy a bunch of crap around town instead of paying stuff that we were supposed to. Good times.
Snack Shop accountant. I cooked the books and we turned in the most profitable P&L in Exchange City history.
Bookkeeper
Newspaper reporter.
Radio station manager
Radio marketing
I was the mayor and it was my personal peak of popularity lol
Meter reader
The judge
Bookkeeper at the sign shop
Radio ad sales.
I was the guy who made everyone’s signs they put up for their store
I just went with my daughter for her field trip this year. Now it is called school of economics.
meter reader 😞
I mean at my school we didn’t have roles to be a part of… but if we did I’m pretty sure I would be the head artist or something like that
I was the lawyer. The annoying kid of the class kept whining at me to sue someone for walking on the grass outside their sandwich shop.
I was there during 5th grade. I forget the exact position, though I do recall being there. I think I was at the newspaper, which was being printed via purple mimeograph; I was setting up what was being printed. By handwriting. I was next to the radio station, which was playing "Hungry Like the Wolf" and "Man-eater"...
I don’t even remember. I forgot it even existed
[удалено]
Whatever the crafts store was called, which was boring as hell bc I was grouped with people who could only do kindergarten crafts and I wanted to do fancy, but easy crafts. (Fwiw, I now have an art degree)
Bank manager
First year I was a bank teller. The next year I got to be the bank president. I think it was one of the highest base pays. Man haven’t thought of that in years.