Private hire drivers often work long hours to make ends meet.
One woman in Singapore, however, was particularly awed and inspired by one driver's positivity and dedication to his job.
Much time on the road
Deera Daneesya shared in a Facebook post her encounter with a Ryde driver named Andrew.
At 65 years old, Andrew still spends 15 hours on the road every day, according to Deera.
In addition to working as a Ryde driver, he also works for Grab and Gojek.
He told Deera that he has been driving for a total of 23 years — 18 as a taxi driver, and five as a private hire car driver.
With the amount of time he's spent on the road, Andrew has completed a whopping 2,045 Ryde trips since he started.
Any essentials he may require for a long day of driving are also stocked in his car. These include plastic containers to takeaway food, four water bottles, snacks like biscuits, a flask of coffee and a pillow.
At Deera's joking that he might as well have a portable toilet in his car as well, she learns that Andrew has kidney failure and he had gone for a dialysis session right before picking her up.
Happy he's still able to move about
In her post, Deera expressed sympathy and concern for Andrew's wellbeing, wondering why he was still working after his dialysis treatment.
"Yes he may not my grandfather or related to me but he is someone's brother, dad, grandfather. I mean I would be very sad to know if my atok have to go through this to earn a living or worst trying to sustain and put food on the table everyday."
However, Deera noted that Andrew exuded positivity throughout their conversation. Not once did he "complain, whine, or sigh" about his situation.
Andrew added that he was content to be able to move around and get out of the house, as opposed to remaining cooped up at home and "get[ing] dementia".
"My wife is working as a cleaner at a coffeeshop and her pay is not bad too. Anyway life is short so we can't waste it away," he said.
Deera ended off her post by saluting Andrew for his hard work, and urged people to show their appreciation for unsung heroes like him.
https://mothership.sg/2020/12/private-hire-driver-kidney-failure/
