Wendy's manager is under fire for blaming his employees' poor service on having a 'talentless...

FULL TITLE: Wendy's manager is under fire for blaming his employees' poor service on having a 'talentless pool of ex-junkies' to hire from in the small Massachusetts town

A Wendy's manager has sparked outrage for insulting his employees and bashing his Massachusetts town as a drug-riddled, talentless 'pool of ex-junkies'.

Wendy's customer Matthew Rose said that he had been shocked by the bad service he received when he visited the restaurant on Cranberry Highway in Wareham on August 3. He says he returned a few days later, to a similarly terrible experience.

He decided to send a complaint to Wendy's corporate office. But the reply he was stunned with the response he received on Monday morning from district manager Keith Edward Helger.

Helger blamed the restaurant's shoddy service the poor caliber of applicants in the town.

The e-mail Rose received said: 'I apologize for your experiences at this location. Not an excuse but the town of Wareham has little to no talent pool to hire from. This is an ongoing issue in that area. We are constantly interviewing and hiring any and all qualified candidates. Unfortunately those candidates are hard to come by as most are recovering addicts and we cannot hire them.'

'We will continue to do our best to fix the issues in this location and improve the overall Wendy's experience. I appreciate your feedback.'

".... Truth hurts doesn't it Mass?...."

Don't mock Mass. like it's the only state around with this problem. It's like this all over the country.

I have friends from school who manage McDonalds' operations in Arizona and Florida.

They both say they have had to compromise the hiring standards to get people who don't have criminal records, are drug-free and are responsible enough to do a decent job in the workplace. Turnover is high and training consumes a bigger portion of the time and budget.

The pool of qualified people for even fast food joints is shrinking. This district manager was speaking the truth. And as it always seems to go in this country nowadays, he is vilified while the drug-addicts and useless, shiftless workers and the towns they live in are the poor victims.

What a cop-out. If you run a business and can’t attract employees who will provide a minimal standard of service to your customers, you need to rethink your business model, whether that’s higher wages, higher prices, better training, or even not having a business in that location. What you don’t do is tell your customer that you know your product is unacceptable, and go on selling it to other poor suckers without doing anything to fix it. First thing I’d do is replace this manager.

When I was in high school (2001-2005), not one of my friends from that time would have done it. The friends I have now would have done it in a heartbeat for the pay and time away from home. If I’d been physically capable, I can’t say I would. Being a woman, I’m not sure they’d have hired me anyway.

I literally had a sh!tty first job. I worked at a daycare which was somehow licensed despite only having A/C in two rooms (window units), with a floor plan that did not allow any air flow between them. The kitchen had no windows, and given that I worked summers and was heading for renal failure, I’m amazed I lasted as long as I did. We frequently moved children into rooms with A/C, because it grew dangerously hot, which we weren’t supposed to do. The building was a former office building, and the owner had a habit of stealing from our paychecks and overcharging parents every so often. We also shared a bathroom with the kids, which should have been a huge red flag, but it paid well over minimum wage.

I changed diapers, took out the trash of every room at the end of the day (more diapers), cleaned and sanitized every toy and surface, vacuumed the entire building, cooked meals, planned crafts, and fed kids ranging in age from 3 months to six years while immune suppressed. Every day for three summers except Sundays and one other random weekday. I was always sick, and the meds made me vomit, but I still worked.

Much of my generation is entitled and lazy, but many of us aren’t. I don’t blame anyone for the generalization, because that’s the image my generation has willfully pushed for itself, almost having pride in its laziness. It’s so odd. My high school friends are those people, and it’s no wonder I fell out with them not long after I turned 21.

My health is so poor that I can’t work anymore, and I miss that feeling of usefulness and accomplishment, because it doesn’t feel like I’m doing enough taking care of the house and my husband. I can’t imagine not feeling that way if I were healthy, and just sitting around on my ass. I don’t understand why people have an urge to be lazy long-term, especially at my age when they should be in their prime. On a day off or vacation day here and there is understandable, but all day every day? It’s no wonder my generation is depressed and so much of it is addicted to drugs; lack of feeling accomplished.

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