Shay’s Hardware

Shay’s Hardware Store is a family operated business located in a small New England town. Harold Shay and his wife have run the business for over 30 years and have been able to earn a modest living from it. Harold and his wife are getting old, however, and for about the past 10 years the bulk of the operation has been left in the hands of their son Ray.
Ray Shay has worked in his father’s store ever since he was old enough to sweep floors. He has spent most of his life learning the business from the inside; and when he took over, Shay’s was left in capable hands. Married and in his early 30s, Ray was ambitious, energetic, and extremely skilled with his hands. He was able to save Shay’s from the fate of most small-town stores. Seeing that they would be unable to compete with the prices of larger, more diversified stores in the cities, he concentrated on providing services to go along with the products. Shay’s engaged in almost any activity associated with the business: painting, plumbing service, TV repair, antenna installa­tion, landscaping, appliance service, and anything else Ray could do. Everybody in town knew Ray to be reliable and reasonable in price, and most people called Shay’s when they needed something fixed before going somewhere else.
During most of the year the jobs he undertook were on a small scale, and he was able to handle them on his own. Harold and Mrs. Shay operated the store while Ray was out on call.
Sam Welch, 18, also worked at the store, part time during the school year and full time during the summer. He had now worked for the Shays for almost three years. During the school year he stayed mostly at the store, taking orders from Harold, doing most of the heavy work, and occasionally helping Ray. Shay’s busy season was during the summer when Sam would work with Ray full time and a younger boy would be hired at the store.
For a high school student, working for Shay’s was an extremely good summer job, and Sam knew it. While most of his friends spent the summer in a factory or restaurant doing the same things day after day, he would be outdoors doing something different practically every week. Furthermore, Ray was a good-natured boss, and the two got along quite well.
Sam was also quite handy, eager to learn, and Ray enjoyed teaching him. They became good friends. As Sam grew more skillful, Ray would give him more and more responsibility, even to the point where he would be sent on the some jobs alone. Ray had even promised him a permanent job after graduation, and Sam was seriously considering taking it.
A recent summer was a particularly busy one at Shay’s as a result of Ray’s decision to expand the paint department. He was hoping that, if he could employ kids of Sam’s age at summer wages and train them to paint houses, people would hire Shay’s instead of costlier professional painters. The idea worked well. During the spring, he contracted to paint several houses to be done over the summer months. The volume was heavy enough that he could keep two extra helpers employed full time painting houses with Sam, which would leave him free to concentrate on other jobs.
Ray hired two of Sam’s classmates, Jeffrey Brown and Jack Meredith, on Sam’s recommendation. Both were enrolled in college for the fall semester and were willing to work cheap. They agreed to work for an hourly wage less than Sam’s 20%. Both had some experience painting houses—in fact, more than Sam did. Sam was excited about their employment. He was really looking forward to spending the summer with two of his best friends while continuing to help Ray.
The first job went quite smoothly. Under Ray’s supervision Sam learned quickly, as usual, while Jeff and Jack needed no help at all. Jack was extremely fast and did a good job on clapboards, while Jeff was especially capable on trim and windows. Sam was able to hold his own but was a little slower than the other two. Ray was confident that the three could handle all of the houses he had contracted and that they could be trusted to be left alone for extended periods.
One day early in July, Ray was installing a TV antenna and fell off the roof. Luckily, it was a one-story house, and he landed on his feet. Unfortunately, he suffered a severe back sprain and had to remain in bed for a couple of weeks.
Many of Shay’s services had to be temporarily curtailed, but Ray was reluctant to end his profitable house-painting venture. The boys had done well so far under his minimal supervision, and he was confident that Sam could handle the responsibilities. With Harold’s approval, he sent word to Sam to take over and keep the job going.
Things went smoothly for the next two weeks, as Sam didn’t have to exercise any of his authority. Jeff and Jack really didn’t have to be told what to do. The procedure had become almost routine. Between the fussy homeowners and the constant supervision of the “sidewalk superintendents,” there was little time to goof off. Once in awhile they would have a few beers on a hot afternoon or spray the garden hose on each other. Sam, who took part in these activities, was sure that Ray would not have minded.
During the first week of August they started work on Austin Miller’s house. Mr. Miller was president of the local bank and owned one of the largest houses in town. The Millers also had a huge, tempting swimming pool in the back yard. Jack particularly had been looking forward to this job because he had been dating Mr. Miller’s daughter Kathy for some time. While Mr. and Mrs. Miller were gone most of the time, Kathy usually had several friends over; and they often spent the whole day sunning themselves by the pool.
Under the circumstances it became increasingly difficult for the three to concentrate on their work (especially when they were in sight of the pool), and, to make matters worse, the weather turned unbearably hot. Kathy invited them to spend their lunch breaks by the pool. Sam soon noticed that every day the lunch period seemed to get longer and work periods shorter and less productive. It wasn’t long before the work was behind schedule.
At first, Sam was a willing participant and took as much time off as the other two, but it soon became apparent to him that they would not be able to finish the house in the allotted three weeks unless they got to work. He also knew that Ray would be out of bed in a few days and would probably be around for inspection. Sam wanted him to be pleased at their progress.
He was reluctant to order his friends around, especially in front of the girls. Most of the time he was able to end the lunch breaks by using gentle persuasion. He would say something like “Hey, I guess it’s time to get back to work,” and hope that Jack and Jeff would follow him. After awhile, this method became less and less effective as the two would work when they chose and paid little attention to Sam. Sam felt more and more anxious and helpless.
One afternoon, Sam was finishing a small piece in the front of the house while Jack and Jeff went around to the other side to begin a new section. After he finished his end, he went around to the side to find nothing done, two paint brushes hardened in the sun, and no sign of Jack or Jeff. He soon found them playing volleyball with the girls by the pool.
Sam finally lost his temper and started yelling at them, ordering them to get back to work. The two found this amusing, and Jack replied, “Sure pal, soon as we win two out of three.” Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Sam went back to work and they joined him half an hour later.
That Friday, Mr. Miller went to the store and complained to Harold that the boys had been working on his house for two weeks and it wasn’t even half finished. Harold told him that Ray was coming back to work Monday and would find out what the problem was. When Harold told him of the complaint, Ray decided that a surprise visit would provide him with the best answer.
Ray arrived at the Millers about one o’clock Monday afternoon, just in time to catch Jack and Jeff in one of their extended lunches at the pool while Sam was working alone. When Ray found Jack and Jeff, he nearly fired both of them on the spot, but instead he told them either to get to work or go home. He was also furious at Sam. “I made you the boss here, and it was up to you to get this job done. Is this how you run an operation by letting your workers loaf all day? If they wouldn’t work, you should have told me right away and I would have straightened them out. I thought you were more responsible than this.”