If it’s a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday, Sam McCalman wakes up in his tiny one-bedroom apartment in Flatbush well before the nearest Starbucks opens for business. He catches the 5am bus to the John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens. From 7am to 3pm, he works there as a wheelchair attendant, gently rolling disabled and elderly travelers from gate to gate. Between clients, he is not permitted to sit down.

After a 30-minute break, he starts his second job wrangling luggage carts for Smart Carte. At 10pm, his shift is over, and he takes the B15 or B35 back to Brooklyn. He often falls asleep on the bus—so much so he frequently misses his stop and has to walk the last few blocks back home. By the time he crawls into bed, it’s nearly midnight. Four and a half hours later, it’s time to do it all over again.

McCalman immigrated from Guyana, a small country that borders Venezuela and Brazil, in 2010. His mother was already here, and he describes himself as the kind of guy who always wanted to come to America. It presented “a better opportunity to do something,” he said.

He got the wheelchair job a few months later, and picked up the second in 2013 when he realized he needed some extra cash. A series of exes bore him four children—two of whom still live in Guyana—and he sends them a total of $400 each month. He also owes $900 a month for the packed, non-airconditioned apartment, which is decked out with religious iconography and vinyl-covered white furniture.

We met on a Monday, his only day off. By Tuesday afternoon, he can hardly wait for Wednesday, when he only works one job. Between the two jobs, he brings home $500 a week.

The tight schedule lends McCalman a heightened awareness of how seemingly minor changes—a missed stop here, a traffic jam there—shave precious minutes off his sleep. “If the buses are messed up, I’m not getting that four hours,” he said. “If I had my own transportation, I might only need an hour to get to work.”

By 2pm each day, McCalman finds himself “literally falling asleep. I’m with a chair, and I’m waiting at the checkpoint, and because I’m waiting, my eyes start closing.”

McCalman’s life reveals a particularly sorry side of America’s sleep-deprived culture. Though we often praise white-collar “superwomen” who “never sleep” and juggle legendary careers with busy families, it’s actually people who have the least money who get the least sleep.

hard working fella...

Tough for him looking at the amount of

hours he is working payment is minimum

wage,he need to update his skills.

This is capitalism for you.  Lots of opportunity, also comes with bright lights and tasty fast food.  With no system to compete against since the fall of the Soviet Union capitalism is now returning to its original primitive form.  So welcome to the new world of global primitive capitalist.

Several of you fellows here have been totally brain washed into seeing the greatness of capitalism (making some billionaire exploit the poor man and woman more) maybe you can figure out how this man can get some more sleep.

pROUD OF THAT HARD WORKING gUYANESE.  HARD WORK DONT KILL.   I wish some Guyanese back home can learn from this. Most of them these days just want to sit around and wait from money from Merika.

give me a better alternative

Nordic social democracy or Cuban model with elections and lots of cheap food.

Capitalism is was not developed in counterpoint to Marxism. The latter was in response to capitalism. Capitalism has roots in the middle ages guild system and evolved in the 18 and 19th century industrialism. It acquired a heart with civil rights and unionism plus activism from women to environmental. Presently, it is counter weighted on a right/left fulcrum but still in the liberalism spectrum.  The right believe in Adam smith while the other side with the Keynesian school. These three economists are the archetypes of modern economics theory ( Smith, Marx, Keynes) All other economists bounce off the ideas of these three luminaries.

BTW Marxism has a wide spectrum from the socialist as in Scandinavia nations to Leninism and all with its contingent social ailments

The man has to workn hard to mine all them kids he made. I bet all of you asked yourself if he is coolie/blackman before reading the article.

Ayuh Rass really racial, me tell u!

 The one who is laying the wager needs to check his credentials if he is a racist or not.

you seem to be the first one to do so...take a look in the mirror

Where do you live?

Stormy use of the term "dalit" to degrade Indos is a confirmation that he can be a very prejudiced.

Time and again Raymond prove himself to be an intra-racist just for the sake of proving his loyalty to people who once walked on his people.

 To the contrary. The term dalit is rehabilitative and corrective rather than a pejorative. It is to avoid the disparate denigration of  peoples and unite them under a banner deemed the oppressed or injured by others in the society. 

I use it to tag those who do not know where they came from and present themselves as coming from a genetic line of  superior humans ( stupid to begin with). Many of you here use your label as "indian" and "culture" as hatchets to denigrate others. Instead it demonstrates how woefully lacking in self knowledge you indeed are. I remind you of the term "oppressed" or Dalit. And that term does not even serve to capture the horrible classifications ascribed to people under its umbrella and whose offsprings we are.

 bTW Africans in general did not walk on any one. Actually, Africans are instrumental to the change in the society since while Cheddi Huddled and consoled the dictator, Rodney resisted and brought along Africans and the Indian intellectual class with him. Again you show how dense and what a bigot you are by personifying your presumed victimization as a consequence of race. No wonder you cannot see those horrible crooks in office. Race is in the way.

Stormy,

You have used the term Dalit to heap scorn on East Indians on this forum. I don't expect you to plead guilty on this. You have lost your cool many times and began to write what any sane person would consider dirt. As for Africans oppressing Indians in Guyana, you must have been living in some hole in Mabaruma not to know what was happening. Walter Rodney acknowledged that Indians were oppressed by the PNC and were victims of racism.

 Oii Billy,Walter Rodney did not see color of the Guyanese,he

 saw Guyanese oppressed by a dictator.

you feel the scorn,you lie i never know you had any pride left after still supporting the ppp

 If you feel ashamed, you should. It is not because you are a dalit but because you accept the criteria that makes such a term to come into being. Yes I use it as an in your face reminder but to get those of you with claims to distinguished pedigree  and  enduring culture off your high horse.

You do not have the capacity to categorize what I write. Since it never acknowledges any real property the term race you have a dilemma. You cannot accuse me of something I do not believe exist. I categorize scumbags as scumbags be they white, black, Portuguese, Amerind, Chinese or Indian....these are social identifying labels not property of supposed human sub species. There is no such

Indians were oppressed during the PNC era but I doubt any in their right mind would say Africans had peaches and cream.  While I consider the PPP racist crooked clowns I am sure Indians are catching their behinds under this regime as well.

Stormy,

You are a pseudo-intellectual who is high on yourself. You writing is long and boring. The contents are pure rubbish when observed carefully. Your intellectual arrogance is annoying and not impressive in anyway. You should take a check on yourself and think whether you are of any value to this forum. 

You and the recently baptized anti-PPP dogs on this forum are now contradicting everything you spoke about the politics of Guyana in the past. You don't see the PNC as racist or ever being racist.  The Guyanese are very familiar with characters like you.

I don't see what your babbling has to do with the article...you came on here calling people racists like yuh crazy...check yuself into rehab or something

Indeed I am high on myself because I like myself, I am self confident and know what I say has some grounding in realty. If my writing bores you it is because you lack taste and is used to the insipid and uninspiring. Were you to focus your attention on the things you say have your attention your light headedness would be substantially reduced. Instead you are a lazy dolt content to remain stunted because you cherish your racism over your humanity.

To the contrary; there is no difference in my core beliefs in the past than now. I am a little smarter and better informed in addition to being more able to stridently  address the issues at hand.  In the past we had a dictator and the time I began to write here we were entertaining the promise of a transition to  democracy.

Instead we came to realize the PPP were  scoundrels who saw the state as a prize and used it solely for their enrichment. To that end one must treat them with as much contempt one had for the dictator.That is imperative since they are present in our reality and impacting our people before on our watch.

There is nothing redemptive in the Present PPP. Change cannot come from them and progress will forever be stagnated should they retain office. This conclusion is not because there is  better in the other side but because there is promise that the being new to the task will strive to differentiate themselves from the crooks that presently exist. It is a hope for change over the knowledge that the present office holders are calcified in their crookedness.

Raymond,

You and Storm should check in a  special re-hab facility to why you have become self-hating coolies.

You are jackass to believe that the alternative is better than the PPP. PPP governs democratically and have been improving the lives of the Guyanese people consistently over the last two decades. The opposition parties you are now figthing for has no interest in improving the lives of Guyanese. They are out to rob the nation and impoverished us once again. Take a look a the crooks in the AFC and the APNU before you jump on their bandwaggon. If they should get power you will be  disappointed if you expect them be a better gov't. than the PPP.
Corruption is being exxaggerated and lies are being told about racism against the AFricans and AMerindians. No amount of intellectual bullshit can change the realities of Guyana. APNU uses violence on its own to keep them in line.  Team up with them and they will Whip your Dalitian/Buck batty till you piss. I called you Dalitian/Buck because you are a mixed dude trying to display all sorts of aristocratic attitudes on GNI.

 My father is Scott  and indo...my mom is Amerind. I acknowledge my cultural hybridity but defer to my Mothers culture in which I was constantly nurtured. I do not think anyone would call me white or Indian but on seeing me they may vacillate a moment and  once told I am Guyanese they will not for a moment say I am other than Amerind. I doubt I could hate myself given I acknowledge a cultural identity that has long been designated a  subaltern status by pretentious Indians And Blacks.

You should show the audience a real picture of yourself if you are so full of self-confidence.

quoting DG...take a look in the mirror

You are absent of any sound grasp of the concept of democracy. You are coerced to your views more by your racism than by any of the democratic precepts supposedly existing in our system.

There can be no democracy when the people are ethnic sheep. There can be no democracy when ethnic actualized administration takes office in a winner take all system. It is worse when the administration sees no problem with it but explicitly insist it would do nothing to weaken its ethnic advantage.

On that account they are alone in the insistence there can be communitarian value in our political system.  Every other party insist the constitution must be changed and the system of rule by ethnic based parties cannot achieve nationalistic goals.

If you only you close your eyes would the corruption in the PPP be invisible. However you have other sensing systems and they would inform you that we are in the trap of one of the most corrupt regime this side of the meridian and the pacific. That they flout obscene cash while only recently all were destitute should be instructive to you. Jagdeo did not have a bicycle when he entered office by the accounting of his own people. His house was a step above a hovel. Now he is obscenely primed with gravy skimmed from our nations coffers. No, the argument is over. These fellows are parasites of the worse kind. There is no comparison here

Stormborn bein too nice, Iman woulda tell dat Billy Ramgoat to carry he rass long time. He's the one who came in here and injected race, just like a few of the other PPP goofballs here he's as racist as they come.

I look in the mirror everyday and what I see a honorable human being devoid of any scheming or scampish qualities. I am not teetering on the edge of morality nor about to sell my soul to those in APNU. Remember that F.M.

 I think there are a couple hanging about but I do not know why that has any relevance.

Me mamoo say if you poor dont get plenty chirren. Mr Nehru how much chirren you get? 

Cain, are you trying to impress Carib? Last time I checked he accused you Indos on here of positioning your greedy and dirty snouths where the soup will fall in future.

Kish,

What world do you live in? You want to derail this thread heh?

It has some relevance since someone said that if there should be an ugly contest on GNI you would be the winner.

Wanna bet Hitler said the same thing, so does Jagdeo and his tiefin buddies.

You speaketh shit.

Cain, put down the bong!