Teens Just Want to Have Funds

This summer, an estimated 24 million teen-agers are forsaking the beach and the mall to toil at jobs during their school vacation.

All that hard work means paychecks, which means spending money, and young people don’t seem to have much difficulty spending it. According to Teenage Research Unlimited, in Northbrook, Ill., teen-agers will shell out $71 billion in 1990 for everything from clothes to cars to compact disc players.

Much of those purchases will take place during the summer, when youngsters have more money than any other time of year.

In the San Fernando Valley, the young and gainfully employed range from spend-thrift to spend-happy. Some have their eyes on future careers. Others are simply looking to support a serious shopping habit. What follows are interviews with five typical working teens.

Scott Stelzer, 17 Yogurt store manager

Scott Stelzer works 45 hours a week at Penguin’s Frozen Yogurt in Tarzana and spends most of his paycheck on his ’73 Chevy Nova.

“I made it into a street rod,” said Stelzer, who graduated from Cleveland High School in Reseda last month and will attend Pierce College in the fall.

His job entails serving customers, cleaning out the yogurt machines and taking care of the cash register. The work pays $6.75 an hour, or roughly $320 a week . . . but the prized car requires nearly that much. Stelzer recently purchased new carburetors, a sunroof, an exhaust system, a paint job and tinted windows.

“Plus, I have insurance and I go through about $40 a week in gas,” he said.

The 17-year-old Tarzana resident said his mother encourages him to save, but lets him spend his money as he wishes. Stelzer says he tries to put a little of each check into the bank. At present, he doesn’t have a girlfriend--which saves him a lot of money--but other friends have designs on his earnings.

“I have to lend some people money,” he said.

Stelzer has worked at Penguin’s for two years and plans to stay on while he attends college. After all, what good’s a hot rod with an empty gas tank?

Patty Gonzalez, 16 Government office clerk

While Patty Gonzalez spends this summer working in a state government office, her friends tell her about all the fun she’s missing.

“I tell them that I like to work,” said Gonzalez, 16, of Burbank. “I say that working, for me, is like a hobby.”

The Burbank High School senior types, files and answers the switchboard 30 hours a week at the Employment Development Department in North Hollywood. She’s done other work in the past--telephone sales and fast-food stands. This job pays only minimum wage--$127 a week--but she has stuck with it for a year because she prefers office work.

Some of her paycheck goes to her parents and to new clothes, but Gonzalez said, “I try to save most of it.” She has put away $2,000 in hopes of studying pre-law at Cal State Northridge.

When high school starts next fall, Gonzalez will continue to work five afternoons a week.

“Working is a way to get to know more people,” she said. “It’s also a good way to find out about other jobs.”

Christina Patino, 16 Department store clerk

Now that Christina Patino is a sales clerk at Sears, she has enough money for lots of new clothes. The only problem is, she doesn’t like to shop.

“My sister goes and buys my clothes,” said Patino, 16, a student at Bellarmine-Jefferson High School in Burbank. “She has pretty good taste.”

Patino has been working in the women’s clothing department at Sears’ North Hollywood store since May. She runs the cash register and makes sure the clothes are hanging neatly on the racks. It’s a part-time job--23 hours a week--that pays about $400 a month.

“Having a job is good because you don’t always have to ask your parents for money,” Patino said. “If my boyfriend and I go out to eat, sometimes I’ll pay.”

Her parents wish she would put away some of her earnings.

“I’m trying to save,” she said, “but I spend too casually.”

The North Hollywood resident figures she’ll keep the Sears job for a while, “until I find something I like better.”

Howard Rumjahn, 17 Tour guide

Howard Rumjahn just started as a guide for the Universal Studios Tour.

“This is my first summer job,” said the 17-year-old senior at Loyola High School in Los Angeles. “I just got my first paycheck last week.”

So what did he do with the newly earned cash?

“I just put it in the bank. I don’t really care about the money,” Rumjahn said. “I got a job because I wanted to have fun.”

Indeed, the Burbank resident rattles off a list of the tour’s major attractions--King Kong, Earthquake and the Riot Act--with a rookie’s enthusiasm. He says he enjoys advising large groups of tourists. He gets to wear a uniform and speak into a microphone. It’s heady stuff for a new entrant in the job market.

“The tour guides also have a lot of fun in the break room,” he said.

Universal Studios Tour declines to reveal how much it pays its employees. Whatever the wages, Rumjahn figures he’ll find a use for the money that’s mounting up in his savings account.

“If there’s something I want, I’ll be able to buy it.”

Karen Light, 16 Health club assistant

Only a few things will get Karen Light to part with the money she earns. One of those irresistible temptations is the teen-age singing group “New Kids on the Block.”

“I love New Kids on the Block,” she said.

Light, 16, works as a receptionist at the Mid-Valley YMCA in Van Nuys. She’s been employed there four months, answering phones, greeting club members and selling T-shirts. She earns between $80 and $100 a week, but the money isn’t exactly burning a hole in her purse.

“I put it right into the bank,” she said. “It’s like not having money at all.”

The student at Los Angeles Lutheran High School in Mission Hills said she took the job because her father does volunteer work at the Y and she always liked the environment there. The hours are flexible--sometimes she works days and sometimes nights. Her supervisor has trained her to use a computer, as well.

Meanwhile, the Van Nuys resident’s bank account is growing, save for occasional expenditures at the record shop.

“I’m saving for a car or college,” she said. “I don’t really know yet.”