I have had a number of part-time jobs over the last two and a half years. In high school, I didn’t really need a job, but I wanted one. I wanted the extra cash because I hated having to ask my parents for money. If I knew then what I know now, I would have just taken their money. Not that the jobs have been bad, it really is what it’s called…WORK, sometimes hard work. I’ve had two photography jobs, an editorial position, and I’m currently a waitress.

The best job I ever had was taking baby photos for a company called Growing Family Fotos. They’re commissioned to specific hospitals in the Oklahoma City area and they hire between two and three photographers, or Moms’ Service Representatives, as they’re called, per hospital depending on the photographer’s availability. If you ever have the opportunity to do something around babies, do it. Seeing those tiny things made it feel like play rather than work. Plus, the pay was amazing.

I worked on commission. If you think about that for a second, all I had to do was go in a hospital room for 30 minutes, hold the baby, position the baby, and a couple snaps later I was loaded. What mother doesn’t want to buy their baby’s first photo?

What I really loved about the job was that I worked on my own time. I only worked Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. On Fridays, I would go to Integris Southwest Medical Center, shoot about 5 or 6 babies, and be done. On Saturdays, I would go in about 9 or 10 o’clock, take about 6 babies at Deaconess Hospital, head over to Lakeside Women’s Hospital for 4 more, and then go home around 4 o’clock. Sundays were exactly the same except fewer babies, and I wouldn’t have to go in until after church. I worked three days a week, and I was making almost $800 a month.

Comparing that job to the one I have now, I don’t know why I ever quit. I do actually. It was summer. I wanted to work more hours, but I really didn’t feel like driving the 30 minutes to Lakeside Women’s Hospital every day. I asked to be moved to Norman Regional Hospital, but for some reason my boss never moved me. So I put in my two weeks, and applied at On the Border. Well, actually, I did that the other way around, and had three jobs for about a two-week period.

The beautiful thing about working on commission, and having a Web site for online ordering is that three months after you quit a job your customers can still order your photos. I got three more paychecks after I quit my job for Growing Family Fotos. The last one came at the beginning of August. I left May 25th.

--Briana Johnson