CEO gifts employee new car after learning he walked 20 miles to get his new job
Meet Walter Carr – a young man from Alabama who was going to be late for his first day on the job. He had just landed a job at Bellhops – a moving company.
The night before his first day, Walter’s car broke down.
Talk about the worst timing.
His destination was 20 miles away. It’d be hard not to give up if any of us were in his position.
But Walter did the opposite. He was determined to get to his new job by any means necessary. There was a persistence about the young man that not many people have.
He had just gotten this job, and he was determined to keep it.
He’s got perfectly functioning legs. He could walk. Walter was coming from Homewood, and the site of his first day on the job was Pelham. Once again, that’s 20 whole miles.
As crazy as it sounds, Walter stuck to his plan. He took a 4-hour-nap and prepared for his journey. By midnight, it was time for him to get up.
He started walking, and he didn’t look back.
He wore Nike joggers knowing how rough the terrain could be.
Walter met a police officer a few hours into his walk. The officer asked him where he was going, and why he was on foot. The young man told him he was on his way to work, all the way in Pelham.
This was enough for the officer to hear.
The cop bought Walter breakfast and offered him a ride to Pelham.
Now Walter was where he needed to be. The officer accompanied him to the house that called the movers. It was the Lamey family, and they got a knock at the door a few hours before the movers were expected. It was Walter and the police officer.
The officer told them about “this nice kid” who walked 20 miles from Homewood to Pelham.
Quite the way to introduce the new guy, but any other introduction wouldn’t have done him justice. Jenny Hayden Lamey was blown away by the determination (and the stamina, obviously) demonstrated by Walter on the job.
“Around 6:30am the doorbell rang. It was a police officer. He proceeded to tell us that he had picked up ‘this nice kid’ in Pelham early this morning. The nice kid. Walter, said that he was supposed to help us with our move today”
She let him inside and showed him around. Jenny offered to let Walter take a breather upstairs, but he refused.
The young man came here to work, and that’s what he was going to do. This drive and hardworking exterior was nothing to scoff at.
Eventually, the rest of the moving crew showed up.
This was the company Walter knew to expect, and they wasted no time. Jenny thought it very sweet and moving (no pun intended).
Jenny’s family weren’t the only ones who held Walter’s efforts in high regard. Not everyone just walks 20 whole miles to their job when their car breaks down.
Luke Marklin, the CEO of Bellhops, met up with Walter himself.
He let him know that the journey was a big deal and really showed something about Walter’s character.
Any man who’d walk that far to do their job deserves special recognition. Hey, Walter, you mentioned your car broke down, right? I don’t suppose a new car would solve some of your problems?
Marklin gave Walter his 2014 Ford Escape.
Young Walter could hardly believe it.
“I’d like to give you this car right here. Today. Like right now. Like you can drive away with it,” Marklin told him.
Walter was taken aback by the gift.
His hard work and determination paid off in the best way possible. Now, he won’t ever be late or have to walk again. His determination truly is life-changing to witness, and it makes for a fantastic story.