MANAGER: You know him as a trooper, our Mr. Reliable. The first time this young man sat down on that forklift, well, it was like an extension of himself. And yeah, he’s not one for small talk, but this boy’s production is out of sight. It’s Jess Mariano everybody.
We’ve only ever seen adults angry and disappointed with Jess, but here we discover that Jess is thriving in his job at Wal-Mart, the manager describing him as “Mr Reliable”. A hard worker and capable forklift operator, who is always ready to cover the shifts of other workers if they call in sick, he is a valauble member of the team. The manager is aware that Jess isn’t much of a talker, but his taciturn manner doesn’t offend anyone here – he more than makes up for it with his work ethic.
It’s another side to Jess that perhaps doesn’t come as much of a surprise, he’s never been afraid of hard work that comes with a pay packet, but is nice to see him being appreciated for once.
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 
I wholeheartedly agree that it’s nice to see Jess appreciated. Not that he seems able to take any sort of praise to heart, and not that working instead of going to school is necessarily what’s best for him, but still… As you said, it’s no surprise that what Jess chooses to do, he does well. It’s the stuff that’s forced on him, which he sees little or no point in doing, that he generally doesn’t bother with.
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In a season where we see almost no Jess. it’s nice to check in with him as well.
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