Buried Treasure

Today's post comes courtesy of Darren Rovell (CNBC's sports reporter) and his link to this New York Times article. Based on your following of this blog, it's safe to assume you are either a) as lazy as me or b) lazier than me, so allow me to summarize the article for you:

Jesus Leonardo, of Wanaque, NJ, is what's known as a "stooper." Stoopers are people who hang around off-track betting establishments picking up tickets thrown away by others. While most of these tickets are losing bets, a few actually turn out to be winners. So many turn out to be winners, in fact, that Mr. Leonardo practices stooping as a full-time job. He makes between $100-300 per day and over $45,000 per year.

OK, stop the presses. You're telling me I can make over $45,000 a year simply by digging things out of the trash? Where can I sign up? Seriously, this sounds like the best deal ever. And don't get all snooty and uppity about trolling through some trash. You're picking out bet slips, not maggots. It's like owning your own business plus gambling divided by the fact that you're not really risking anything. That's an equation for happiness, my friends.

This also got me thinking about what else I'd be willing to do to make $45K a year, without really working or having a boss. Everyone remembers the Seinfeld bottle deposit scam, but is that possible? Newman and Kramer thought they had it all figured out, but in the end it didn't work out (partly Jerry and Elaine's fault, but that's for another post). I had some friends once who delivered newspapers, but the hours were heinous (3am - 7am) and let's face it, newspapers will be completely obsolete in about three more years. I want something with more longevity than that. I'd suggest something involving strip clubs, but I'd end up either divorced or broke, so that's no good.

I need something I don't mind doing that other people would never think of or would never want to do, and most importantly, make money doing it. I'd throw out "listening to Rosie O'Donnell", but I don't think there's any money in that. Picking up dog feces? I can't figure out a business model that would work. Would people pay you monthly and then call you whenever their dog took a dump? The 1-800-GOT-JUNK people are on to something. Could I show up at people's houses and throw shit away for them? Maybe, but it would be tough to do as just one guy. I also might get arrested if I just showed up at someone's house and threw their couch away.

For now, I'm going to continue in my role as a sales executive. But I will continue to dream of my own "ticket in the trash" scheme...