Independence is a goal that many men and women strive for as they reach adulthood. One of the first steps that many make in the direction of independence is to leave their parents’ home and get a job.
“Asked On The Line” conducted random, informal interviews with 21 mainliners and asked: How old were you when you left your parent’s home to live on your own? What was your first paycheck job? What did you do?
Twelve of the 21 men, or about 57 percent, who were interviewed left home as teenagers, between the ages of 13 and 19. Ten of the men, or about 48 percent, were minors under the age of 18 when they left home.
Nou Thou, P.J. Ai, and Andre Yance never had a job and left home to be on their own as they came straight into the prison system. They each began their incarceration as juveniles.
Danny Ho and Al Fredericks were both 20 when they left home. Ho’s first paycheck came through working for a temporary agency as an electronics assembler. Fredericks worked as a dishwasher at a restaurant.
E. Philips was 18 when he left home to work at UPS.
Six men left home at the age of 17: Darnell Hill, Brian Asey, Armando Mendez, Chris Scull, Kenyatta Leal, and Ar-Raheem Malik.
Hill worked at a liquor store as a stock person and cashier, Asey worked at Burger King as a crew worker, Scull worked at Subway Sandwiches as a sandwich artist, Leal worked at Don’s Furniture as a re-furbisher, and Malik worked at a YMCA as a janitor.
“I started as a crew worker and then went to cashier and within six months I was crew chief,” said Asey.
“I worked a variety of jobs,” said Leal. “After Don’s Furniture, I worked at a restaurant called Steer & Stine as a dishwasher, at Howard’s Buffet as a busboy, at Vaughn’s as a stock boy, and then at a construction company called Rancho Trust hanging drywall.”
Mendez never had a job. “I got involved in delinquencies to support myself,” said Mendez.
Martin Gomez, Ruben Harper, and Dean Thomas were all 16 when they left home.
Gomez’s first job was as a field worker, Harper worked at McDonald’s, and Thomas worked as a mechanic.
Arturo Avalos left home at 15, while Andre Yance left at 14.
Avalos’ first job was at a sewing machine company in Mexico but Yance’s never had a job with a paycheck. “I made money by washing and vacuuming cars for cash. I charged $3 per car,” said Yance. “I couldn’t get a regular job at that age because I had to take care of my little brother.”
Some waited a bit longer to leave home. Jim Mardis left his parent’s home when he was 27 and his first job was as a busboy.
