It was a warm Alabama night in mid July when Walter Carr, a local college student, was picked up by police at 4 a.m., walking along U.S. 459/255, a major 4-lane highway.
The young man had secured a job at Bellhops Moving and was supposed to start the next day at a client's house in Pelham which was almost 20 miles from Carr's location in Homewood. But, as luck would have it, his car broke down the day before. Rather than miss his first day at work, he sat down and figured out how many hours it would take him to walk. There he was—on the highway, having walked 14 miles in the dead of night when the police appeared at his side.
"What are you doing out here?" the officer asked. After Walter explained, the amazed cop took him to breakfast and then dropped him off at the home of Bellhop's customer. He was the first mover to show up and immediately got to work. Although the the client tried to get him to rest, he refused and moved furniture and boxes all day long.
The family was overwhelmed at Carr's dedication and the client posted the story on FaceBook, saying "I can't tell you how touched I was with this young man's story. He is humble, kind and cheerful. He is hardworking and tough. I can't imagine how many times in his long walk he wanted to give up, but he didn't. I am in total awe of him."
The post went viral. The media picked it up and soon his boss, Luke Marklin who is located in Tennessee, heard about it.
They say good employees are hard to find, and great employees are even more rare. I guess Marklin realized it. He drove down to Alabama so he could not only thank Walter Carr in person, but also to present him with the keys to his own Ford Explorer so Walter would never have to walk to work again. The boss said, "I am blown away by you, everything you did that day was everything we are...heart and grit."
Carr said he had been turned down for many jobs and was so grateful for the opportunity, "I wanted them to know I got the dedication. No matter what the challenge is you can break through—you can do anything you set your mind to."
At a recent UNITE INDY forum we talked with experts about the 70 percent unemployment rate among inner city youths. Pastor John Girton, who trains young Indianapolis kids—free of charge—in a program called "Jobs for Life," says we have to get rid of the idea that kids who are not working are lazy. They are anything but lazy. They need training and direction. They need to understand the playing field of today's work environment so they can be the kind of employee Walter Carr is and be as valuable to their employers. But most of all, they need the chance to work.
I have been following this story for a few days, and today I scrolled down to see the posts that people had added under the YouTube report of these events. The first one was a very simple response to this heartfelt story. It said, "I LOVE HUMANS!" What a great response! It reminded me to say thanks to Pastor Girton for his important work with kids in our city. He shows how much he loves humans every day.
Blessings,
Nancy
