A day in the life of a typical employee is a consistent attempt to make it on time to work. This means creating ample time to take a bath, dress up, and a sharp estimate of commute or drive time from home to office. But for Walmart cashier Anita Singleton, it takes an extra amount of effort.
Around 5:30 am, Sidell police officer named Brad Peck was driving home from his night shift. As he was driving along a dark and narrow road, he saw a woman wearing a Walmart vest walking. Peck immediately offered her a ride, and much to his surprise, Anita’s routine has always been like this.
“We talked about everything, from our faith and Jesus and work ethic, how I was raised, how she was raised,” Peck said. “It was really cool — humbling in my eyes.”
For over a decade, Anita walks six miles going to work. To make it on time, she leaves as early as 4:30 am. Despite the challenging routine that she has to face everyday, she’s proud to have lost a lot of weight from all the walking, and is grateful to have a place to go home to. When police officer Brad Peck knew all these, he was deeply moved and decided to share Anita’s story on social media:
“She told me when she can’t get a ride she has to do what she has to do. We shook hands and she went into work. That brief moment of me getting to spend some time with her made my day so much better. I don’t think she knows how much hope she gave me and valuable life lesson she taught me. Walmart Slidell – Northshore Blvd y’all seem to have a pretty solid employee.”
Brad woke up to numerous messages offering their help to Anita. His initiative to share Anita’s story also reached ABC news. Fortunately, the story also reached Matt Bowers, a Chevy dealership owner, and like Brad, he was moved. This made him decide to give Anita a brand new car, free of charge.
“I thought it would be nice and refreshing and cathartic even to do something nice for somebody,” Bowers said, adding that South Louisiana has a “strong sense of community.”
A few days after, Brad went to Walmart to pick up Anita and took her to the nearest Chevrolet branch. She was welcomed with balloons and a tent, and this is when Anita had an idea what was going on. You can see the disbelief in her face and the reality of what was happening slowly sinking in.
Anita was given the opportunity to choose a brand new car of her choice. Between a a burgundy Traverse and a white Captiva she picked the latter.
“I told her a lot of people would use that as a crutch or an excuse to not go to work,” he said. “She never missed a beat.”
Watch the video of Anita’s stunned reaction when she learned of the surprise below: