How a Restaurant Owner Responded to an 18-Year-Old's 20-Kilometer Snowstorm Trek

It happened last winter - which was particularly harsh in the New York area.

As a wild snowstorm raged outside, forcing most residents to stay indoors, 18-year-old Jacquiel Reagan couldn’t afford to miss a job interview scheduled at a local restaurant, so he started walking along the highway.

About half an hour into his trek through the snow, a car pulled over to the side of the road.

Reagan was puzzled when a stranger called out to him from the window, asking how he was doing. "I told him everything was fine and kept walking," he recalls.

The stranger apologized for his 'nerve' and asked where Reagan was headed in such a storm, on a highway with hardly any cars at that time.

"It’s okay," Reagan smiled politely. "I’m on my way to a job interview at a restaurant."

The stranger smiled and introduced himself: his name was Art.

Art pointing to the road where he picked up the young man

"Why aren’t you taking a bus?" asked Art in surprise, receiving an unexpected answer. "Well, I didn’t have money for the bus, so I started walking."

Art paused.

"20 kilometers on foot in a snowstorm like this? Man, I couldn’t do that," he said, moved by the young man's determination. He couldn't let him continue walking. "Listen, I really don’t know how to say this – but would you consider working at my restaurant?" Art asked.

It was a tempting offer in every way, and Reagan couldn’t say no. When Art was later asked what prompted him to offer a job to a boy he didn’t know, he answered, "A kid who walks through a snowstorm for a job shows determination. I’m sure this determination will lead him to excel in whatever he does, which is why I offered to hire him. I need employees like that," he concluded.