By Brittney Mangum
Reporter
“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them,” (Matthew 7:12 KJV).
Jennifer Ruttley does her best every day to treat others the way she would like to be treated. She is a people person and spreads her optimism to those she meets by providing them with a listening ear and contagious smile.
One of the things Jennifer loves most is working. Her job allows her to make an impact on countless people each day, and she wouldn’t trade anything for the opportunity to make someone’s day better through her job. Most of Clarke County would easily recognize her from any of the three gas stations in the area that she supervises.
“I graduated from Quitman High School in 2001. I started working at the Minit Mart in 2003 and have been there for 16 years now,” expressed Jennifer. “I love my customers. I’m a people person and always smiling. My favorite things to do are just hang out with my friends and family and work. I’m a workaholic. I think one of the things I love the most is my job because I get to meet different people. Even though we’re a small town, we still get to see the travelers coming through. My customers are the number one priority. Meeting and greeting them with a smile on my face may be able to help make someone else’s day better. There’s always something going on in the stores, and I always try to make people smile.”
She adores her work family and credits them with making everything work smoothly. It doesn’t bother her to have so much responsibility with her job because her work family is so strong.
“My coworkers are like my extended family,” proclaimed Jennifer. “We run the Chevron, the tobacco store, and the Minit Mart. We’re all one. I’m the supervisor at all the stores, so I bounce around to the different stores. It’s good to do different things.”
She is extremely grateful to Jim Crapse for allowing her to have the job she loves so much. While she likes the new leadership that took over a year ago, she will always have a soft spot for the one who had faith in her at the beginning.
“I love Mr. Jim Crapse with all my heart. I wouldn’t be where I’m at today in the business if it weren’t for him. When I was fresh out of high school, he gave me a chance to work for him. I thank God every day for him,” declared Jennifer. “We sold out and have new people in our company. They’ve been there for about a year now, and they’re some good people. Nobody can ever replace my Jim Crapse, though.”
Her optimism derives from feeling incredibly blessed each morning that she wakes up. She uses the opportunity she is granted each day she wakes up to focus on the positive instead of the negative.
“I don’t really have a bad day because the Lord wakes me up each morning. Somebody didn’t wake up with me, so I’m thankful for every day and every second of the day,” informed Jennifer. “I thank God that I was blessed to see 40 years old on January 17. That’s one of my great memories because many of my family and friends didn’t get to make it to see 40. I’m just blessed to be at the stage that I am in my life.”
Other than using the time she’s given to do the job she loves, Jennifer also uses it to spend time with her family. She takes pleasure in being able to watch her family grow each year.
“I’m the baby of four children. I have 10 nieces and nephews. I don’t have children. I just borrow everybody else’s kids,” stated Jennifer. “I love when my nieces and nephews were born and being able to watch them grow up to become the people they are today. I like to flashback and remind them what they did when they were little.”
Her love for children doesn’t stop at her nieces and nephews. She believes that a more positive impact could be made in the community simply from everyone working together to do things that would benefit the youth in the county.
“We all need to get together and try to get something for the young people to do. Maybe we can cut down on the violence, the crime, and the hatred,” advised Jennifer. “We all just need to come together as one community and work together to build the foundation because one person can’t do it. We all need to help.”
She truly believes everyone should really invest in the youth and that they know much more than people want to give them credit for.
“Kids can teach us something sometimes too. Sometimes we need to just listen because sometimes they’ll be saying things, and we don’t know what they’re going through. We’ll just push them to the side and tell them they don’t know what they’re talking about,” discussed Jennifer. “At this stage of life, the kids know more than some adults do because of the environment that they’re in. If we would listen to each other instead of just one person, the world would be a better place.”
Children aren’t the only passion Jennifer has. She also has a passion for the elderly. She will frequently visit the seniors at Lakeside and take them some food so that they can enjoy a meal they wouldn’t usually have. Her passion is so strong that she has plans to soon start a part-time career assisting the elderly at night when she gets off work at her full-time job.
“I plan on going to school in May to become a CNA. It’s just something I’ve always loved to do: working with the elderly. I won’t leave the job I have now, but I plan to be a CNA part-time at the home for elderly people,” declared Jennifer. “There are people working in that field that are just there and don’t really care for them. You have to love the older folks and just can’t treat them bad. I go visit the people in the nursing home now because once people put them in the nursing home, they don’t really go back and visit them most of the time. I want to go into the nursing field so that I can be the extended family they need when they’re locked up in a nursing home. Those elderly have my heart; I couldn’t sit back and watch anyone be mean to them.”
No matter what each day may bring, Jennifer will continue to do everything she can to be a blessing to others. She will spread all the love and compassion that she can in hopes that she is making a positive difference in the lives of anyone who crosses her path.
If you would like to nominate someone for Person of the Week, contact Brittney Mangum at 601-776-3726.
