An Alabama man’s emotional reaction was caught on camera after his co-workers came together to surprise him with an extraordinary gift.
Derrick Taylor has worked as a shipper at the UPS Customer Center in Oxford, Alabama, for a year and a half. He arrives early each morning to work a physically demanding job loading and unloading the large delivery trucks.
Making that an even more difficult proposition is the fact that Taylor didn’t own a car.
“He walked over seven miles to work, rain or shine, five days a week,” Allie Steen, a co-worker of Taylor’s, told Global News. She says he’s rarely late for his shift and always works hard, despite his nearly 25-kilometre daily round trip.
“Derrick has an excellent work ethic,” Steen said.
And so Taylor’s co-workers decided to pool their money – and buy him a car.
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Steen says a co-worker who was retiring offered up his Jeep Cherokee for whatever amount they could raise – which ended up being US$1,100.
Then they decided to surprise Taylor with it after his shift ended last Wednesday.
Taylor says his co-workers came up with a list of excuses to keep him around after his shift ended so they could gather everyone for the surprise.
“They have their ways,” Taylor joked.
Eventually, with the company gathered around and Steen filming, fellow co-worker J.D. Ward – who Steen credits for coming up with the idea to buy a car for Taylor in the first place – presented Taylor with his new ride.
“He was in shock, he couldn’t believe it,” Steen said.
For his part, Taylor said he couldn’t believe his co-workers would to go that length for someone who had been there as long as he had.
“It’s a great feeling to know that I got people around me like that,” Taylor said. “That really doesn’t happen to folks that only work a year and a half.”
Asked if he was enjoying the much quicker commute to work, Taylor said he’s enjoying another perk even more.
“It’s nice to be able to take my mom places,” Taylor said.