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James Robertson is a 56-year-old injection molder at a plastic parts manufacturer in Michigan and, according to The Huffington Post, has had to rely on rather limited public transport for the last 10 years after his car gave up on him.
James can’t afford to buy and maintain a car since he earns $ 10.55 (R120) an hour and can’t move because his girlfriend just inherited the house they live in. And the worst part? He has to walk for 33 of those 75km he has to travel.
And I thought my commute was long.
There are many days when I complain about the collective 3 hours I have to spend on a bus to and from work. Not only does it take long, but everyone who uses public transport knows the horrors and discomfort we often face. I’ve experienced everything from body odour to drunk passengers. But I have got nothing on this.
James leaves his house at 8AM to get to his 2PM shift which ends at 10PM. He catches the last bus to Detroit at 1AM and doesn’t arrive home until 4AM. Which means he has about 3 hours sleep before he has to get up and do it all over again.
How this man is still sane, I have no idea. I’ll think twice about complaining about my trip, that’s for sure.
But at least there’s a little bit of a silver lining to this story. When Evan Leedy, a student at Detroit's Wayne State University, heard about James’ struggle he started a GoFundMe page to help buy James a car. Evan set the goal at just $5000. The donations are currently on a staggering $350 000.
Evan told HuffPost that now James can buy whatever he needs with all the donations and two car dealerships have reached out to donate a car to James.
So looks like there is some good in the world after all. Now we hope James pays it forward and uses some of that money to start a shuttle service perhaps?
But I want to hear about your commute. How do you get to work every day? Do you have to take 3 busses, a train, and a taxi? Do you have your own car? Do you enjoy being able to read a book while someone else drives?
Tell us in the box below.
