Pretty funny I got into the position of defending him in this thread when it became a question of my judgement.
He is a pretty hard worker but he's more interested in buying cigarettes than car tags.
He definitely doesn't read the aha forum. He works In a brewery but he only has vague idea how to brew. He can squeegee the s*** out of the floor though!
There are always give and takes, goods and bads. My comment on getting rid of him was the general feeling that he was a constant screw-up. I've seen people run businesses into the ground trying to be "nice" to employees who have no redeeming qualities. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. I've had my share of screw ups over the years.
I protected a young kid in one of my service departments while trying to convince him that a 12 pack every night may not be the way to get ahead for several months once. I finally had to fire him because of the issues he was causing. Not to mention the insurance problems we could see coming in connection with our service vehicles.
Glad to hear he's worth the effort to keep him on. Even in today's job market you aren't going to find strong, reliable and smart in one package too many times. You usually have to pick 2 like the old development contracting joke (You can have it cheap, fast or accurate. Pick any 2.)
Paul