A TikTok user's comments about getting her first job as a teenager have sparked a conversation online after she questioned why some parents don't make their kids work at a young age. Naomi, who goes by @naomii.nae on TikTok, recently shared that she got her first job at 16 and was surprised to learn that some people didn't start working until they were 19 or 20. Her video has 3,900,000 views and 8,354 comments.
Naomi tells viewers that her first job was at age 16.
"As someone who got their first job at 16 I be so shocked when people be like I didn't get my first job till I was 19, 20 years old," she begins.
She says that at age 14, her dad told her to go to McDonald's and get a job. That made her jealous because all the kids who didn't have to have jobs had so much more free time than she did.
However, she does go on to extol the virtues of having money at a younger age. "I don't regret it," she says of working since she was 16. "But it's just crazy to think about. Some people's parents really don't be like making them go get a job."
@naomii.nae I used to work at Coldstone and get hella tipssss? #relatable #firstjob
♬ original sound - N A O M I
The Video Sparked Many Online Conversations
Naomi's comments about getting a job at a young age prompted viewers to share their own experiences with working while growing up.
While some said they wished they had started working sooner, others explained why their parents wanted them to focus on school instead.
Everybody's experience in life is so different, and the comments in Naomi's video highlight a vast array of experiences. One user said that they wished that their parents had let them work sooner. Another hoped somebody would hire them soon.
Others brought up Naomi's comment about certain parents not making their children get jobs. One user commented, "My parents wanted me to focus on school then work. Most Hispanic parents don't let their kids work till after school education is prioritized. Thats why most of us don't have a job until 19."
In a similar vein, another user wondered if being expected to get a job early is a cultural thing.
"Idk maybe it's just an American culture thing?? my parents never pushed me to work but I do help around in our small family business & my parents insist that I should just focus on my studies," they said.
A French user agreed, commenting, "Maybe in america it's normal, but in France for example we go to school from 7am to 6pm and in higher studies even until 9pm, so there isn't even time for us to do so. I'm about to be 20 and i've never worked."
The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the claims or experiences shared in the video, which are based on Naomi's personal account on TikTok under the username @naomii.nae.
