Speaking of institutional work, there's also hospitals which are by definition usually located near people, and schools. The local private liberal arts college

Speaking of institutional work, there's also hospitals which are by definition usually located near people, and schools. The local private liberal arts college down the road from me pays $8.75/hr for all work-study jobs, so about half McDonalds wage. The important point is turnover is immense and demand for such low pay is extremely low. So work on campus on the help desk for one month / one semester / something like that. Instant easy experience to put on the resume. Helpdesk is an interesting way to meet people, such as the administrators and professors whom could hire you for a "real" job possibly paying as much as $15/hr. As a comparison, you'd be very temporarily making approx $9/hr at a college that costs $37K/yr to attend, just for tuition not room and board and books and so forth. The college president makes far in excess of $300K/yr (thats what the guy back in 2003 was getting). Although it seems unsustainable for decades now, the system hasn't crashed ... yet. So may as well get that easy experience.