Working Five Jobs Just to Make Ends Meet
From bus driver to mosquito control, Lizzie Revels does it all for her family.
Oct. 28, 2008 — -- There are many statistics that give you the big picture of the economic pain people are feeling these days, but they often overlook the individual struggles to make ends meet that people face everyday.
We met one woman, Lizzie Revels, a 47-year old single mother from Houston who juggles multiple jobs so she can raise her two children, including one who is in college.She told "Good Morning America" the extraordinary measures she's taking to get by during these tough times, in her own words:
"I'm Lizzie Revels. I work five jobs to make ends meet. I drive a school bus. I also work at Reliant Stadium [during] Texas football games. On the weekends I drive a limo, and I have an office job.
My day starts early ... at 5:15 in the morning ... driving a school bus. I got home and sleep for four hours and then I go back and do my evening run and then I come home. I eat dinner with my son, and then at night at 8:30 [I] drive a mosquito truck. ... I'm there till 5 o'clock in the morning.
On the weekends I drive a limo, and I have an office job.
[I'm] a single mom trying to make ends meet. ...I don't have any help. I'm actually living from paycheck to paycheck."
Most of the time, I only get about five hours of sleep. I take a little nap in the evening before I go out for work.
Sometimes I'll be extremely tired. ... I've been doing this for 14 years.
I don't have a problem working hard, because my children, they want a better life."
My daughter is in college and it's pretty expensive. It's very hard, everything is so expensive. Schools are more expensive than it was back then.
Sometimes I get emotional. ... I'm working hard for my children to have a better life than I did.
I had set my goal. My goal was to see my children succeed, and I'm not going to stop until I see my children succeed.
