Commuting Challenges: A Daily Struggle
It is a reality that commuting to work is not one of the best moments for everyone. This period of the day comprised of sweatily standing in stuffy warm carriages, tucking in between strangers and trying by all means to keep away from eye contact with the strangers. This surely is not some of the best experiences when it comes to commuting work each day using public means. It does matter even if it’s an hour-long teach journey or a ten-minute tube ride, commuting to work is not or the faint-hearted. On the flipside, there are people who journey comfortably long distances to and from work daily. The mystery to be unveiled is whether the commuter challenges are part of us in the essence that nothing can be done to the effect that we have access to better transportation systems.
The Story of James Robertson: Detroit's Walking Man
The story of James Robertson, who has been so far branded the tag “Detroit’s walking man,” is not one to laugh about and for a fact reveals how we have fallen short as a country to meet the basic requirements of our citizens. James Robertson is a factory worker who used to walk twenty-one miles to work. He came from a lodging house all the way in Detroit walking to the suburban and that was the routine (Baldas). His boss narrates that James could arrive at the workplace covered in snow and sometimes rained on. The best part is that he was never late and never missed work for the past dozens of years.
Commuter Challenges and Personal Drive
According to this narrative, points out to the fact that regardless of the challenges in the transport sector, James still could not make the same come in between him and his job. The fact that he was never late and never absent brings to light a perspective that though there are gaps in transit we should make it worthwhile and noticeable to the authorities our efforts. James never had the opportunity to confront the authorities about his predicaments but stayed his course which ultimately paid. Another fact significant to this story is that James never complained. He continued doing what he did.
Fixing the Gaps in Transit: A Public Responsibility
While the story of Mr. Robertson about his commuter seems extreme, he is not alone. Research shows that many people in Michigan today go through extraordinary measures to get to work or school or in any other daily activities. Such basic commuter needs should not be a serious ordeal! Though the story outlines a strong personal drive, it as well depicts the failures in the system to provide essential public services.
Demanding Concrete Solutions: Joining Hands for Change
This story requires that all entities touched should take it to heart and fix the gaps in transit promptly. This is due to the fact that it is not only James who is affected. Again, for the hardworking citizens such as James, they need more than empathy. This group of affected individuals requires concrete solutions. It is, therefore, upon the public responsibility to join hands in demanding for resolution of the huge gaps in transit systems. Failures in transit might translate to issues like a disabled woman trading her house for a descent car just to get to work, or a cancer patient missing out on medical treatments which sustain his or her life just because he or she couldn’t get to the doctor’s office in time or a student rolled out in detention because the bus was late.
Work cited
Baldas, Tresa. Detroit ‘walking man’ James Robertson gets a new car. 2015.
