Cyndi Loza

Despite the heat, haze and occasional sunburn, some Reno area teens are choosing the humble job of sign shaking to earn a few bucks before school starts in the fall.

“After a while, it’s not really that hot, but with the smoke, it makes it worse,” said Brian Plumlee, 18, of Sparks, who shakes a sign for Sonic’s Drive-In off of Pyramid Lake Highway.

“This is more of a seasonal job (though), and it kind of doesn’t require anything but just standing here, shaking a sign.”

Standing out in the road does require a thick skin for Phil Wilcox, 18, who shakes a sign for Round Table Pizza.

“It’s just embarrassing when people yell at you,” said Wilcox, who shakes the pizza place’s lunch specials on North McCarran Boulevard. “Sometimes they just sit there and talk to me while they are at the stop. They ask ‘How much they paying you for that? Oh, that sucks. Get a real job.’”

“They’re talking to you but making fun of you at the same time,” Wilcox said. “But, whatever, at least I have money.”

Wilcox makes $6.55 an hour for his part-time job that often requires him to stand on the corner of North McCarran Boulevard and Northtowne Lane during afternoons.

Standing outside in a raincoat to pose as a fisherman is tough for Senry Martinez, 22, of Reno.

“It gets really hot,” said Martinez, referring to Reno’s weather that has reached higher than 100 degrees recently. “I get really agitated.”

Though the job’s not glamorous, shaking a sign for a business might be a way to get a foot in the door, said Lisa Catellier, assistant manager for Sonic’s Drive-In at 4995 Galleria Parkway in Sparks.

“By seeing they can handle a-not-so-glamorous job, you know they can handle a more glamorous one,” Catellier said.