Posted on 03/09/2017 11:26:10 AM PST by nickcarraway
A Plano man’s daily walk to work has received a lot of attention in Collin County this weekend.
Five days a week, Patrick walks the 15 miles from his Plano home to the Braum’s near U.S. 75 and U.S. 380 in McKinney where he works as the acting manager.
The walk typically takes him two-and-a-half to three hours.
But for Patrick, 52, it is simply a matter of commitment.
“You can’t keep your job if you don’t go to work,” he said. “I used to work at the Braum’s in Plano and I got transferred here because they needed help here. I said ‘OK,’ and my commitment to them was, I have to be at work so I’ll be at work, whatever it takes.”
Patrick said that a friend drops him off at home after work each night. He has been making the walk to work for the last seven months.
But over the weekend, Patrick’s stroll along the service road caught the eye of a McKinney Police officer, who stopped to ask if he needed help or a ride.
After taking Patrick to work and learning his story, Officer Branson asked if he could take a photo with him.
Officer Branson then shared the photo and the story on Facebook, writing, “My kids will know about Patrick, my grand kids will know about Patrick, everyone should know about Patrick.” The post garnered nearly 5,000 “likes” in just 24 hours. Patrick said his Braum’s location has been flooded with calls from people wanting to help. A woman even started a GoFundMe account for him, which raised more than $1,000 in one day.
“There is a lot of kindness in Collin County,” he said.
Patrick, who asked that his last name not be shared, said he didn’t want the spotlight, but he hopes his story will inspire younger generations.
“Commitment. You make a commitment to your job, to go to work everyday. They expect you to go to work everyday. No excuses," he said.
No excuses -- just a man leading by example, one step at a time.
On Monday afternoon, Braum's Spokesperson Amanda Beuchaw released the following statement to NBC 5 regarding Patrick:
The news story that was ran on the station over the weekend about one of our employees that works at the McKinney Braum's , Patrick, has been brought to our attention. Many viewers and customers have been reaching out to us because they are concerned that Patrick is having to walk so far to work.
When we were notified, we started looking into the matter with our management team in the area.
About a month ago, Patrick was offered a promotion that would move him from the Plano store to the McKinney store. He is a terrific, hard-working employee and we wanted to offer him the chance to advance in the company. During his interview for the new position, he was asked if he had reliable transportation and he informed the district manager that he did. We did not learn that he was walking to work until we saw the news story that ran this past weekend. We take the health and well-being of our employees seriously and we plan to address this with Patrick.
Thank you for highlighting how great of an employee that Patrick is for the company. We just wanted to address the public's concern, which we share also, and let everyone know that the situation is being evaluated.
Plano & McKinney aren't friendly when it comes to rapid transit or bike paths. Big black mark against Collin County.
I live in North Irving, and DART has a regular route, plus the Green and Orange lines are just a few miles from where I live.
Alas, I work at Alliance Airport now, and there is NO rapid transit.
My dad sounded just like that sketch. He would tell about when he was a kid the kids that didn’t live in town rode their horses to school but he had to ride a donkey.
One day when he was telling that story my aunt was there and she spoke up and told on him. The reason he had to ride a donkey was because he was given a horse to ride to school and during recess he and the other boys would make the horse buck so they could ride a bucking horse. My grandfather took his horse away and made him ride a donkey to school as punishment for mistreating the horse.
There are people out there who run much more than this. A few years ago a dude I’m familiar with ran 50 miles every day for 50 Consecutive days. Endurance is much like dedication, it’s a matter of what someone is prepared to get completed.
Glad you enjoyed it. I live in the States but spend a year in the Yorkshire area for a year (Leeds) so it has a special place in my memory.
A few years ago a dude I’m familiar with ran 50 miles every day for 50 Consecutive days
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Was his name Gump, Forrest Gump?
I called an old buddy up one time to see how he was doing.
He said his doctor told him to run 5 miles a day to reduce his blood pressure. He was into his second week.
“So has it helped reduce your BP?”
“Heck yes! 45 miles away from that hag of a wife! Sure it’s working!”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.