At that age, I was growing up in Alaska.  I would have done the same thing to make some $$ to get ahead.  Instead I made the choice to take a government job.  The only people they could hire were military wives because of the low pay and unemployment.  Husband had a job where they were working him 7 days a week for 6 months (although paying him well) and we finally moved to the Lower 48 to get a similar job with more promotion possibilities for both of us and a family life.    Many people made the choice to make money in Alaska for a short time (think pipeline) and give up a normal 8-5 job with a family life for a few years.  To these kids from Europe, a minimum wage job is 3-4X more than they would make at home if they could even find a job (unemployment for kids in some countries is up to 50%) and, if they have any goals at all at home, can provide the start for a business, family or a home purchase.  This is exactly what many of the lower level employees did when on the pipeline.