My first real job was at Sea World of Texas, where a 16-year-old can not only be a manager, but also sign a waiver to not get paid time and a half for hours worked in excess of 40 per week (in the height of the summer, I remember working 50 hour weeks regularly).  Back then, we did not even realize that we were missing out on anything.  I can remember, being excited about the $300+ checks I brought home each week, and by having teenage labor, Sea World knew how to make a little extra money by charging the employees a check cashing fee, so that we could instantly turn our checks into cash.  Even with my deeply-rooted frugality, I will admit that many a Thursday/Friday afternoon, I cashed my checks at the little van in front of the employee entrance.

The point of this blog is not to talk about the exploitation of young workers, but rather to share images from a recent visit to Sea World of Texas.  As a matter of fact, I had not been there since I stopped working at the park in 2000.  In this over 10-year time span, the park underwent several changes, but many things did stay the same.  The biggest changes I noticed were the hand sanitizer dispensers visible throughout the park, the electronic ticket scanners, and the fact that they changed my old restaurant from the Oaks to Seafire Grille.  I remember back in the day, the Oaks was the restaurant that was always open, no matter what life-threatening storm was going on – we were still opened and serving customers.  Literally, one day, there was a serious storm, well-equipped with long streaks of lightning, earth-shaking thunder, flickering lights, and more, and our restaurant stayed open until the park closed while all of the other restaurants got to close early.  Still, I enjoyed my time at Sea World because there I learned how to work efficiently, quickly, and hard!  These values have carried into many other arenas, including school and my own business.

Below are images from a trip to Texas around Christmas time.  By the way, I included a throw-back photograph of me when in my “flattering” uniform after a hard day’s work.  If memory serves me correctly, this photograph was taken by my uncle.