It goes without saying that summer jobs for teenagers are a rite of passage. Not all teens actually want to work, but they enjoy the money work produces, and teens here are lucky in the range of jobs available to them. Second-home owners and vacationers are here to spend, and businesses are desperate to find the necessary labor. My own summer career provides a look at just a few of the roles a young person can find on the South Fork — and the memories they create.
My first job was as a busser at Georgette’s restaurant on Three Mile Harbor and on my off nights at the Sea Wolf nearby. Honestly, I cannot remember much about what I did other than slice and take bread to the tables and refill coffee cups. Later, I worked putting up party tents and delivering rented glassware, plates, tables and chairs, and the like. I was a lifeguard — briefly — and a jack-of-all-trades at a large property that needed constant mowing. I milked goats there, too.
My favorite and longest-lasting summer gig was at Tony Minardi’s Claws on Wheels seafood shop, which was in the semi-outdoor space now occupied by Grindstone Donuts on Race Lane in the village. Claws did a fair bit of catering, but for the most part I helped staff the fish counter and deal with customers.
We had our regulars, including Martha Stewart, whose fish tastes were wide, and two guys who only ever asked for a pound of flounder. There were perks, too. Bob Kohr, who cut the fish in the back of the shop, gave me the nickname Gull because I would eat anything. If Bob was breaking down a yellowfin tuna, he’d throw me a slice off the backbone, which I’d wolf down in a flash. Sometimes we grilled out near the parking lot, but raw or cooked, I was in piscivore heaven.
Over the years, I had many other jobs, here and in New York City, but I never had so much fun as summer in East Hampton, where work and laughter were served up in equal measure.