One summer, he worked as a famous fried-fry guy at the local McDonald's and learned how to crack eggs one-handed. Another lesser-known job was helping an eccentric neighbor woman who thought of one day raising and selling hamsters(5). Bezos cleaned the cage and fed the rodents, but he soon realized he was spending more time listening to the woman's problems than taking care of the mice. He was clearly a good confidant because she once called him at school and pulled him out of class to discuss some emerging personal crisis. When Jackie Bezos learned of this, she put an end to the relationship.

Bezos's high school friends say he has an extremely competitive personality. He was the recipient of the award for the best science student in his high school for three consecutive years, the student with the highest math score for two years, and won an award at the statewide science fair for his work on The effects of zero gravity on house flies. Sometimes he announced to his friends in class about his plan to represent the 680 students of the entire course to give the graduation speech. And he crams his schedule with honors courses to boost his rankings. "The race [for the remaining students] then becomes a competition to be number two," Josh Weinstein said. "Jeff decided he wanted it and worked harder than anyone else."