Manager Give Teens A Chance

‘You’re not a bad mother. Bernard is a teenager. Teenagers are, by definition, not fit for human society.”

- Coach Tom Wingo, “The Prince of Tides.”

Coach Wingo needs a minute with Jim Hensley, the manager of Wendy’s restaurant in Hayden.

“I’ve known lots of teenagers, and not a one of them is bad,” Jim says.

He has raised five of his own and taken in a couple more during their troubled times. Teens flip his burgers, mix his frosties, wash his counters and stuff down his Biggie fries.

Only 11 of Jim’s 37 employees are older than 18.

“If you make kids successful when you manage them, they’ll make you successful,” he says.

Jim knows success. His Wendy’s is tops in sales in the region. His employee turnover is the lowest because Jim inspires loyalty. Parents of his young workers send him gifts and praise his patience.

Jim doesn’t smile or talk much. Worry has dulled his brown eyes and thinned his hair. Still, kids drift to him like balloons toward the sun, because he listens.

“You have a choice with teens. Either you open a line of communication or you have a super high turnover rate,” he says, never taking his eyes off his food counter.

Jim always wanted to work with children. He earned a teaching degree, but stuck with the food industry for the money.

Managing Wendy’s in Coeur d’Alene for 10 years brought him a stream of teens diving into the job pool for the first time. They made gross mistakes: calling in sick to go to the beach, not showing up for work. Jim gave them a second chance and a warning. They didn’t abuse his generosity.

Jim has found that kids usually fail at work when they have no support at home. He doesn’t complicate their problems by firing them. Instead, he takes them home. At Jim’s house, they do chores, eat with the family, find some stability.

His young employees stay at Wendy’s an average of three years, including time off for school sports, family trips, church functions.

“There’s no scheduling problem that can’t be overcome,” Jim says, undaunted even by the seven kids who want prom night off. “They’re good people worth keeping. They just need someone who cares.”

Burned up

Heard the hot news at the Women’s Center shelter in Coeur d’Alene? The engine in the extra-large, heavy-duty dryer burned up earlier this week. Smoke was bad enough to put one staffer in the hospital for a short time. She was OK, but the dryer was DOA.

Now the women and children staying in the shelter to escape abusive situations have no way to dry their clothes - unless someone has a dryer to donate. Call Holladay Sanderson at 664-9303.

Those were the days

When Bob Scates first came to Coeur d’Alene in 1949, he could zoom down Government Way to his home in Hayden Lake at 65 miles per hour. When he bought 18 lots for $3,500 (total) along the Spokane River’s north bank eight years later, people laughed. But Bob laughed all the way to the bank when the lots sold for homes.

Bob is a retired dentist and legislator. He still looks at Ponderosa Boulevard in Post Falls with wonder. His neighbor bulldozed that road in the late 1950s for quicker access to his property. It’s gotten better with age.

Where are they now?

Pull out the old high school yearbooks and look at those mug shots. Have you seen any of them on the post office wall? What happened to the football hero or the valedictorian?

Fill in the blanks and tell us about the people who left after high school. Report your news to Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene, ID, 83814; FAX it to 765-7149; or call 765-7128 and we’ll gossip.