RUSS ADAMS
CURRENT JOB SHORTSTOP, TORONTO BLUE JAYS
SUMMER JOB MOWED LAWNS, LAURINBURG, N.C.
AGE 13
THE WORK "I got $20 each to do ours and our neighbors' lawns."
BEST THING ABOUT IT "The hours. I could do it on my own time, then hang with friends and play baseball at night." WORST THING "It was hot: 95 every day. Oh, and the pine cones! If you didn't rake every single one of them off the lawn, they'd cut up your mower. I must have gone through four or five mowers."
HEATHER MITTS
CURRENT JOB DEFENDER, U.S. WOMEN'S SOCCER TEAM
SUMMER JOB HOSTESS AT A MEXICAN RESTAURANT, CINCINNATI
AGE 20
THE WORK "I greeted and seated guests at Don Pablo's and helped out the waiters and waitresses if they got swamped."
BEST THING ABOUT IT "Working at the Taste of Cincinnati food festival. It was one big party. I served nachos, margaritas and burritos. It was great."
WORST THING "Coming home at night smelling like a big, fat burrito! I worked there for only a month and a half. Otherwise, I would have gained 50 pounds."
JEAN RACINE
CURRENT JOB OLYMPIC BOBSLEDDER
SUMMER JOB LIFEGUARD, WATERFORD OAKS, MICH.
AGE 17
THE WORK "I basically got paid $9 an hour to hang out and get a tan."
BEST THING ABOUT IT "I'd switched from luge to bobsledding, and I financed my training myself. I was maxed out on my credit cards, so all I earned went toward paying down my debt."
WORST THING "Saving people. This 60-year-old guy came flying down the water slide. The force turned him over and, even though the water was only three feet deep, he panicked. I had to jump in to haul him out. Then I called an ambulance in case he had a heart attack."
WILLIS McGAHEE
CURRENT JOB RUNNING BACK, BUFFALO BILLS
SUMMER JOB BURGER KING, MIAMI
AGE 16
THE WORK "I was the cleanup guy. They made me clean the toilets. It was the nastiest thing ever."
BEST THING ABOUT IT "That's easy. The girls who worked there."
WORST THING "My first paycheck for two weeks was $96. It wasn't worth it. I never worked again. I knew after that, the real world wasn't for me."
CARON BUTLER
CURRENT JOB FORWARD, LA LAKERS
SUMMER JOB BURGER KING, RACINE, WIS.
AGE 16
THE WORK "I was a big kid, so they were always using me to move things. I emptied the garbage and moved boxes and boxes of patties. But I could also whip them Whoppers up quick."
BEST THING ABOUT IT "It taught me a lot about interacting with people."
WORST THING "All my friends would come in and see me in the back getting grease on my face and they'd laugh at me. But I still love Burger King. I eat there now."