Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.): “I was a paper boy for six years. There was one house where a young, attractive woman would always come to the door in a short negligee. It made me bright red. I’m sure she enjoyed it too. Then it was embarrassing. Now I’d enjoy it.”
Rep. Howard Coble (R-N.C.): “I was a helper on a garbage truck. It was hard, dirty work. I wasn’t even the driver — I was the helper. I was the guy who loaded and unloaded. It made me have an appreciation of sanitation workers.”
Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas): “Just out of high school, I climbed poles and strung wire for Western Union.”
Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.): “I worked in the post office, seasonal work. I was never a reporter — that would be embarrassing.”
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.): “I wouldn’t know.”
Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.): “I’m so old I can’t remember.”
Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho): “I worked in a sauerkraut factory. I had to throw out my clothes every night because I stunk so bad.”
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.): “As a young man I loaded milk trucks, and that was an embarrassment because I had to get up at 3 o’clock in the morning instead of going to bed at 3 o’clock in the morning.”
Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.): “I was a stock boy in a dime store, but I wasn’t very embarrassed about that. It was a sought-after job. I climbed poles for the public system. I worked as a gandy dancer on the railroad straightening rails in high school.”
Rep. Al Green (D-Texas): “I’ve never had an embarrassing job. All work is good work. The best job is always the one that you’re still looking for.”
Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.): “There’s no such thing as an embarrassing job. Work is a responsible, good thing to do. I’ve worked in real estate, construction. I’ve waited tables. I’m proud of all the jobs I’ve had.”
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.): “My first job was cleaning test tubes in the basement of a hospital.”
Rep. Jim Gibbons (R-Nev.): “I was 13 years old, and I was a soda-fountain clerk pouring coffee for old men who sat there and smoked cigars.”