My First Part-Time Job: A Crash Course in Timing
Eventually, I landed my first part-time job as a production worker at a kitchen tile manufacturing company.
The factory had a long production line, with tiles constantly moving along a conveyor belt.
Each batch of tiles—arranged in 4 x 4 squares—was baked, polished, and sent down the line in sets of 12.
My job was simple, at least on paper: catch each batch of 12 tiles at the end of the line and stack them neatly by hand.
But timing was everything.
Every 60 seconds, a new batch would arrive.
If I wasn’t fast enough, the next set would slide off the belt and crash to the floor.
That pressure was real—and unforgiving.
Let’s just say, I “learned” a lot in my first few days.
You wouldn’t believe how many batches I broke before I got the hang of it.
