Birmingham college student walked 20 miles to 1st day of work so his boss gave him his carUpdated 5:08 PM; Posted 4:19 PM
By Carol Robinson crobinson@al.com
Walter Carr
Bellhops CEO Luke Marklin gives Walter Carr keys to a car.
Jenny Lamey's social media post about Walter Carr's journey on foot to make his first day on the job got a lot of attention. And inspired Carr's boss to give him a car.When a young Birmingham college student's car broke down the night before he was supposed to start a new job, he didn't panic. At least not for long.
Instead, Walter Carr walked. From Homewood to Pelham. All night. In the dark. 20 miles or more.
A Carver High School graduate and U.S. Marine hopeful, Carr walked throughout the early Saturday morning hours because he needed, and wanted, the job with Bellhops moving company. He made it to Hoover by 2 a.m. and then to Pelham at 4 a.m.
It was in Pelham that the trek took a surprising turn. Kindness and concern from four Pelham police officers coupled with publicly-posted words of amazement and admiration from the moving company's clients about Carr's work ethic and dedication, led to a massive pat on the back Monday from Bellhops CEO Luke Marklin.
Marklin drove in from Tennessee under the guise of meeting Carr for coffee to personally thank him. That meeting ended with Marklin surprising Carr by giving Carr his own barely-driven 2014 Ford Escape.
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All the accolades over the weekend started with a post from Jenny Lamey on Facebook. She wrote that she and her husband, Chris, got up about 5:45 a.m. Friday to get everything staged and ready for the movers. About 6:30 a.m. their doorbell rang and the Lameys found Pelham police officers at their door.
"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. It was his first day on the job with this moving company (Bellhops) and he was 'training' today," Jenny Lamey wrote.
The officer then told the Lameys about Carr's perseverance in getting to work.
"He WALKED ALL NIGHT to get from Homewood to Pelham. Because he needed to get to work. For those reading this that are not local, that's over 20 miles. You could tell how the officer told us this story that he had complete admiration for Walter and by my reaction he could tell I did too,'' she wrote. "The police officer said they picked him up earlier that morning, took him to get some breakfast and once they checked his story out, brought Walter to our house."
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Pelham Police Chief Larry Palmer and his officers talk to Walter Carr. They gave him a ride and got him some food so he could make it to and through his first day on the job.Read more:
https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2018/07/former_marine_walked_20_miles.html
