would you hire a 19 year old kid?

lost my last employee last week...he was a real winner....he showed up 10 minutes late for work last monday--while i was in the house he went into my van, grabbed his check and took off...thats how he gave notice...what a POS



anyways....ive decided id rather take on someone younger this time...in the past they have all been older guys and none have lasted long....a kid out of high school may stick with me longer....hours is what i think is the biggiest issue...its a part time job...20-30 hours a week.....some weeks can be as low as 12-15 though...this is where im losing the older guys.



i only got 3 resume's this week....and only 1 interested me....he was honest and showed up early for the interview.....what more can i say...he's 19...he's not going to be a great interview....he has no experience in life...he's had a few other jobs that relate to what he'd be doing for me....none lasted very long though..



i have 3 calls into 2 of his old employers.....but most likely they wont call back...in construction returning phone calls when your not a paying customer pretty much = 0 chance



would you consider hiring someone as young as 19?