This was on the CBS nightly news. I saw the interview.
It took him a long time each way. You can do anything if you are hungry and desperate.
And, what eventually happened was a local high school kid started an on line fund raiser and raised enough money for the guy to buy a car.
It's true and it's awesome.
news wrote:
This was on the CBS nightly news. I saw the interview.
It took him a long time each way. You can do anything if you are hungry and desperate.
And, what eventually happened was a local high school kid started an on line fund raiser and raised enough money for the guy to buy a car.
It's true and it's awesome.
Not everything that happens on the news is true. Did Brian Williams get shot down by an RPG? I'm not anti mainstream media, but you have to keep a skeptical mind when a story comes along that seems too good to be true.
Doing this walk for a couple months until he could get a closer apartment? Sure, I believe that. Doing the walk in the summer but bumming rides during the winter? A little strange, but I could see it. Doing this stupid commute for ten years while getting only two hours of sleep per night? My BS meter is off the charts. Even if he's walking slow, he's walking more than 100 miles per week.
It's kind of sad this is getting blown up so much. If it's legit (which I kind of doubt) it's probably the last thing this guy wants. But I have a feeling it was set up by some group to illustrate the lack of public transportation in and around Detroit.
KS Cosmosphere, if the guy had killed someone wouldn't you have known about it in a small rural community ?
riding a bike on that route in the dark would be suicidal (being on those roads) and would be virtually impossible when there's a lot of snow and ice on the ground.
jjjjjjj wrote:
His walk, however, is much more difficult and dangerous and he was mugged at one point.
He was mugged once while walking 9 hours a day for 10 years (23,000+ hours). Doesn't sound dangerous to me.
Randy Oldman wrote:
He didn't ask for charity. Someone else raised the money.
We call that a 'partner'
In review of the whole thing, I think it's legit. People will do what they have to do, even when it seems outrageous.
His GoFundMe fund is now up to $315,000. That's just nuts. He purchased his car today as well. Looks like a 2015 Ford Fusion? People are still donating every few minutes... why? the page clearly shows that he has his car, why keep giving him money?
His story just doesn't add up. He obviously has some kind of mental deficiency if he can't manage to save up for a car in 10 years... He is making well above minimum wage and is splitting rent/mortgage with his longtime girlfriend. People with minimum wage jobs have cars all the time. Or at least a bike... The only thing I can think of to explain his situation is that is actually dumb. Like, really, truly not a smart person.
I mean, think of all of his options he has had in 10 YEARS!
-Get a new job closer to his house
-Get a new apartment/house closer to his work
-Save for a car
-Buy a cheapo bike
-Does his girlfriend have a car? Can she help?
-Buy a pair of shoes for the walking that aren't WORK BOOTS.
If somebody can't do ONE of those things in 10 FREAKIN YEARS, there MUST be something seriously wrong with you mentally. I see no other possibility. You might think medical bills... well, i doubt it considering he hasn't missed a day of work in 10. That's tough to do when you have to go see a doctor who costs as much as a car would be if saving for 10 years..
Ugh, this makes me so angry that people think this is a true charity case of a man "down on his luck" doing nothing wrong to deserve what he has "gone through"... Me, as an upstanding person has done the right thing and saved for a car to get to and from work.. Why can't I be rewarded???
exthrower wrote:
I love this guy...He doesn't whine and complain about the unfairness of life..He just quietly goes out and does what he has to do...A truly stellar Human being..If I had the money I would buy him a car.
I agree. Why are people hating on this man? With all the people making as little effort as possible to even fill out a job application, this story is a nice change for once.
gillyweed wrote:With all the people making as little effort as possible to even fill out a job application, this story is a nice change for once.
This is a joke, right? He had 10 years to fix his awful situation himself and he did nothing to improve it even a little. No savings for a car, no bike, or change of job, no change of apartment. He has clearly showed VERY little effort. He has made NO effort to better his life, why should we help a person out with that mindset?!?
Not Bill wrote:
In review of the whole thing, I think it's legit. People will do what they have to do, even when it seems outrageous.
Theres a sucker born every minute.Nothing about this story rings true.
ekw wrote:
gillyweed wrote:With all the people making as little effort as possible to even fill out a job application, this story is a nice change for once.This is a joke, right? He had 10 years to fix his awful situation himself and he did nothing to improve it even a little. No savings for a car, no bike, or change of job, no change of apartment. He has clearly showed VERY little effort. He has made NO effort to better his life, why should we help a person out with that mindset?!?
Take a college level sociology class. Use your head & think a little. Many people just can't get up & move like that. Have you ever known or spent some time with someone on a limited income?
Savings? How much can you get in savings working $10-$11 an hour?
This is Detroit. The job economy hasn't been the best lately. Getting a better job isn't easy in their economy.
I think he has shown enough effort by keeping his job even though his Honda died on him.
But, yeah, I have no idea why we help out those who persevere & aren't handed everything in life. Lets spend our time criticising those who go to work everyday. That make sense.
Read wrote:
not sure either wrote:2) It takes him 6 hours to get home but 4.5 to get there.
.
8 miles headed to work and about 13 miles home.
Does he live in a mobile home?
He keeps himself energized at work by drinking 2-liter bottles of Mountain Dew and cans of Coke.
Ugghhhhhhhhhhh, you think he's diabetic??!!??
This guy is a hero. I wept after reading the story, what bravery, perseverance and courage to stare evil directly in the eye and make such a strong statement.
This man should receive a congressional medal of honor and the Nobel Peace Prize. He is the greatest human being that has ever lived, and if you haven't donated any $$ yet, you're the worst.
Ford GAVE him a Taurus free of charge. Not sure what happened to the $300k.
I'm sure the DFS had their doubts and looked into his story before running with it.
Alan
jjjjjjj wrote:
Most of the questions asked here are settled in the article. There's no bus in the Rochester Hills area because like many other suburbs around Detroit, they opted out of paying the SMART bus fees to get the routes. He sleeps on the bus portion of the route. The comments here are disgusting. Why would a set of runners dedicated to a useless, painful pursuit be so condemning of a very very unusual person who commutes this way every day? I commute 16 miles r/t by running (taking three buses over a 2 hr period would be the only public transportation alternative). There just are these no-public transportation zones, thanks to people like you who do not support any public spending. Near here, there is a major, major thoroughfare lined with housing developments stretching for ten or twenty miles without a single bus along it and once I was stupid and locked my keys in the car at a Y and had to walk 5 miles carrying my daughter to get another set of keys and run the 5M back to get the car. Cars are simply too expensive for someone making subsistence wages, particularly with insurance rates that in Detroit are the highest in the country. His walk, however, is much more difficult and dangerous and he was mugged at one point. In other countries and in past times in this country, it was very common to walk such distances. People outside mega- third world cities do this kind of thing every day. I stayed with a rural family in Malawi where the father would walk this far every day into the city where he was an x-ray technician. Is it, maybe, that he is black? If he were white, would you admire him? And of course he didn't start the funds or ask for them either.
Was the father as fat as this guy?
gillyweed wrote:
ekw wrote:This is a joke, right? He had 10 years to fix his awful situation himself and he did nothing to improve it even a little. No savings for a car, no bike, or change of job, no change of apartment. He has clearly showed VERY little effort. He has made NO effort to better his life, why should we help a person out with that mindset?!?
Take a college level sociology class. Use your head & think a little. Many people just can't get up & move like that. Have you ever known or spent some time with someone on a limited income?
Savings? How much can you get in savings working $10-$11 an hour?
This is Detroit. The job economy hasn't been the best lately. Getting a better job isn't easy in their economy.
I think he has shown enough effort by keeping his job even though his Honda died on him.
But, yeah, I have no idea why we help out those who persevere & aren't handed everything in life. Lets spend our time criticising those who go to work everyday. That make sense.
Forget moving, then. How about getting a job closer to home? If he works during a portion if the hours he is currently spending on his commute, he could make more money even if he's earning a lower wage.
If the guy just likes to spend ridiculous amounts of time walking, I'm not holding it against him. To each his own. But let's not pretend that the guy has no other options. No sociology class is going to convince me that 20+ hours of effort for $90 pay is the best possible scenario for the guy's personal finances.