Discouraged by the lack of job opportunities in his native Eastern Kentucky, 18-year-old Harlan resident and recent high school graduate Jacob Hatfield was encouraged to pull himself up by his older brother’s hand-me-down bootstraps this week. Hatfield, a size 12, received the size 10 Red Wings as a graduation present from his older brother Tim, who no longer needed the boots on account of that coal mine accident.

“I know it can be tough to find a job here in Appalachia,” said Jacob’s principal Ricky Belding, “but Jacob just needs to hunker down and then pick himself up by some bootstraps. Harlan is famous for its rags-to-riches stories. Just ask washcloth mogul Randy Mosier. Randy graduated back in ’86 with nothing to his name except for a medium sized towel. And what did Randy do with that towel? He ripped it in half and sold both pieces. Now he’s the owner of the largest washcloth emporium this side of the Mason-Dixon.

“One thing that being a school principal has taught me is that when it comes to living the American dream, work ethic is far more important than a good education. In fact, that’s our school’s motto. If you’ve got access to reliable transportation and high-speed internet, you can really change your life,” the principal said about the teen who has access to neither.

Taking the advice of his principal, Jacob Hatfield has started to apply for jobs at several local businesses in Harlan.

“I put in an application at the Washcloth Emporium,” Hatfield told us. “I think Mr. Mosier sees a little bit of himself in me, because I saw him rip the application in half as I was walking out.  I guess that means I got two chances at the job.”