You’ve always been told to respect your elders, but have you ever asked Gram and Gramps for advice about your unpleasant boss or how to spend your paycheck? You may think your older relatives are spending their days knitting and watching their stories, longing for the days of their youth, but the golden years ain’t what they used to be. Recent studies have found that contrary to popular belief, older Americans are generally happier than their younger counterparts, especially when it comes to their jobs.

We know what you’re thinking: Aren’t your younger years supposed to be the “best time of your life?” Despite that widely held belief, your Great Aunt Edna may be more popular at work than you are. Shocking, huh? Here are some other findings that may surprise you:

• Americans who worked past retirement age were more content in their jobs than younger employees.
• Younger adults were more likely to report financial worries and high levels of stress on the job than older workers.
• Many older employees work simply because they like their jobs, not necessarily because they need the money, which translates to higher job satisfaction rates in this age group.

So the next time you visit your more mature family members, ask them for some tips about how to get the most out of your job search and find a job you love. You may even learn how to crochet a pair of woolen mittens or play a mean game of shuffleboard.

• If you’re one of the many older Americans looking for a job, check out our advice for 55-plus job seekers.

Thanks to everyone who sent in their funny on-the-job stories for our first Share and Win! Contest. From coworkers’ collapsing desks to spilling bleu cheese all over an old man’s head, we here at SnagAJob.com had a blast reading them all.

After poring over close to 400 entries, we have picked a winner. Congratulations to Diana Arcia from Georgia, whose story of an insurance call turned midday nap was everything but a snooze. Diana will receive a $300 American Express gift card to use on whatever she wants. Will she invest in a new summer wardrobe? Or maybe a combination foot massager/coffee maker for those days when she needs to relax and energize all at the same time? It’s anybody’s guess. Check out Diana’s winning story below:

“I used to work in the call center of a vehicle insurance company. My first day out of the training class, I received a call from a 78-year-old man who wanted to add his brand new Porsche to his car insurance policy. He was very excited because he always wanted this vehicle and it took him over half a century to get it. I asked him for the vehicle identification number and he replied, “Oh, let me get it, honey. It must be here somewhere. I’ll be right back!” Five minutes passed and all I could hear were birds singing in the background. Suddenly, a woman picks up the phone and asks, “Hello, who is this?” I identified myself and told her I was waiting for the gentleman who went to get his vehicle information. She said, “Oh, my husband went to take his nap, he probably forgot that he was talking to you. Sometimes he dozes off. Lately, he has fallen asleep while driving just waiting for the light to turn green. The woman laughed out loud and said, “Who is this again?” “This is his vehicle insurance company,” I replied. Immediately after, the call got disconnected.”

Don’t forget to send us your worst interview stories and enter our new Share and Win! contest here Also, we’ll be posting some runner-up funny stories later next week. And while you’re at it, search for summer jobs and part-time jobs.

[Note: This is not the actual "Sleeping Beauty" referenced above, but just some other unlucky dude we found on YouTube. Consider it a public service announcement: Driving while sleepy is bad!]

As if America’s hourly job seekers didn’t have enough to deal with between the tanking economy and the surge of unemployed white collar workers invading their hourly turf, now they have another threat: President Bush.

No, the President isn’t backing any legislation curbing the federal minimum wage or anything like that. In fact, politics aside, the president has been a big supporter of the nation’s hourly workforce for a long time. The problem is that he now may be joining it. Well, not really…

That’s right, when SnagAJob.com Founder and CEO Shawn Boyer was recently honored as the Small Business Person of the Year at the White House, President Bush had some zingers ready for the crowd.

“Now Shawn started off by helping a friend search online for an internship, and he got an idea for a business right there,” Bush said when introducing the SnagAJob.com CEO. “Sometimes that happens. You know, it’s just like, ‘click.’ And the idea was to create a website to help unemployed Americans with [hourly] job opportunities. And – actually, I asked him to leave a business card because it seems like I might be looking here after a while…”

ZING!

The president, who of course was a successful businessman himself with both the Texas Rangers and several oil outfits, probably won’t be filling out applications for summer jobs even though his second term is winding up. But we’re proud to have his support – as well as the support of the 10 MILLION JOB SEEKERS who helped SnagAJob.com win the small business of the year award. Yes, that’s right, we now have 10 million registered job seekers. But we’ll get more into that later…

Hot new jobs: Wal-Mart partners with SnagAJob.com

Here’s a Wal-Mart fun fact: No one in the country sells more groceries - or toys. Wow.

That means on any given day, no company could be selling more bratwursts and BRATZ dolls. (So if you need to pick up a birthday present for your 9-year-old cousin on the way to a football tailgate, you know where to go for one-stop shopping.)

Here’s our point: The success and product diversity Wal-Mart has achieved translates into a ton of different jobs. That’s good news for hourly job seekers. When a retailer is selling everything from fresh fish to “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” DVDs, it needs a high volume of hourly workers who are highly adaptive.

That’s a quality that Wal-Mart has also demonstrated as a business: Being adaptive. The company has joined the green revolution by contributing $500 million annually toward increasing fuel efficiency in its massive trucking fleet. Some store locations even offer Wi-Fi Internet access and Sushi now. But don’t worry, you can still by denim overalls and turtlenecks at Wal-Mart. And the friendly greeters haven’t been replaced by robots.

Check out Wal-Mart jobs now.

Not all presidential candidates know what it’s like to struggle. Some were born with silver spoons in their mouths. Heck, some were born with diamond toothpicks.

But you’d be hard-pressed to find any of this year’s Final Four (sorry, Ron Paul) who can’t at least relate to the working class experience. You know, the experience that comes complete with living paycheck to paycheck, struggling to put food on the table and making every penny count.

Here’s a look at how the remaining presidential hopefuls connect with the backbone of America…

Mike Huckabee
While his mom worked as a clerk for a local utility, dad pulled double duty as a mechanic and firefighter. Sounds like his family was one Native American short of forming a YMCA tribute band. Mikey started work at the tender age of 14, taking a gig at a radio station doing the news. You can bet this bible-thumping, former Arkansas governor was anything but a shock jock.

Barack Obama
Sandwiched between degrees at Columbia University and Harvard Law School, the upstart Illinois senator worked with Chicago’s low-income, public housing residents as a community organizer. We’re guessing he spoke a lot about “change,” “change” and more “change” to his inner-city constituents. And we’re fairly sure he sounded pretty good.

Hillary Clinton
Adored by middle class Democrats, Clinton has always battled for affordable healthcare options, as a First Lady, New York senator and presidential hopeful. Her goal is to offer a choice of plans to the millions of uninsured Americans, a bunch that includes many of our 70 million hourly workers. It’s even a more touching, unselfish story when you take into account the fact that robots don’t need doctors.

John McCain
While other candidates worked for community projects and station managers, John McCain worked for his country. It was also the family business, as he followed in the footsteps of his father…and his father. The once rambunctious Naval Academy graduate became a decorated veteran, a storied P.O.W. and a senator from Arizona. Now if he can just get his own party to like him…

Which candidate do you think best understands and would fight the hardest for America’s working class – and why? Please comment below.

• Do you want to be president one day? You’ve got to start somewhere. Check out teen jobs today.

At SnagAJob.com, we’re often hearing from 55-plus job seekers looking to get back in the game. Whether they have an immediate need for cash or they’re saving up for an Alaskan cruise, more and more boomers are making an hourly workforce encore these days.

We just never thought one of these back-to-work boomers would be Indiana Jones.

That’s right….the Indiana Jones. When the teaser trailer for the fourth installment of the archaeological superhero’s film franchise came out recently - “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” - even SnagAJob.com was surprised to hear the following exchange…

Mutt Williams: “You’re a teacher?”

Indiana Jones: “Part time”

We’re pretty stoked to have Indiana Jones as a member of America’s 70-million-strong hourly workforce. Even if he gets a little sore these days after outrunning mammoth boulders and swinging sky high on his trusty whip.

• See 55-plus jobs.