Teen lands job after miles of trek through snow and ice

Teen lands job after miles of trek through snow and ice


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INDIANAPOLIS — A teen's determination and humility led to a man giving him a job and a second chance.

Friday, Art Bouvier was laying ice melt on the parking lot of his Cajun restaurant Papa Roux in Indianapolis after an ice storm when a young man approached him, asking him for directions to 10th Street and Sherman.

Bouvier told the man, 18-year-old Jhaqueil Reagan, he should take a bus, as it would be another six or seven miles. In a Facebook post, Bouvier said he expected Reagan to ask him for bus fare, and was surprised when he thanked him and continued walking instead.

About 15 minutes later, Bouvier and his wife were driving down 10th Street for coffee and saw Reagan walking through the slush and ice. He pulled over and offered him a ride.

He found out Reagan was walking for a job interview at a thrift store, where he could potentially earn minimum wage. According to Yahoo! News, Reagan had taken responsibility for his two younger siblings after his mother died a couple years ago.


I just got to thinking, that's a good work ethic. If you're willing to walk 10 miles in this kind of weather for the promise of a job, then I don't think you'll have any problem actually showing up for the job.

–Art Bouvier


"Jhaquiel was waking from 42nd and Post to an interview at 10th and Sherman for a potential (but not guaranteed) minimum-wage job in this weather," Bouvier wrote on Facebook. "Walking, because he couldn't afford the bus. He had actually planned his time well and the interview was still two hours away."

At 10th Street and Sherman, Bouvier gave Reagan some money for lunch and dropped him off at a Dairy Queen.

"I got his telephone number and told him to keep his interview, but I would see if there was a way to hire him, so his daily trek to work would be 3 miles instead of 10," Bouvier wrote.

"I just got to thinking, that's a good work ethic. If you're willing to walk 10 miles in this kind of weather for the promise of a job, then I don't think you'll have any problem actually showing up for the job," Bouvier told local news station WTHR.

The teen started work Monday. He said he learned the value of working hard from his father.

"I get my work ethic from my dad. He's worked his fingers to the bone all his life," Reagan told WTHR.

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Celeste Tholen Rosenlof

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