• ASeriesOfPoorChoices@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Nah, car window washers.

        $2 per car, 4 cars per light change, 6 light changes an hour = about $50/hour.

        Edit: Since people need more help with math:

        1 light change: 6 minutes.

        Time to wash a car window: 30 seconds at most (20 seconds is normal)

        Lets call an additional 30 seconds between cars for moving 3 feet and getting money.

        That’s 1 minute per car. Out of a slow 6 cars per minute, doing ~24 cars per hour gives you plenty of time to account for resting and being turned down

        $100 an hour would be a good hour, $20 would be slow. $50/hr is a round average. Most work a couple hours a day.

        Yes, it’s illegal to walk in traffic like that.

        Edit edit: https://thewest.com.au/news/perth/a-16-year-old-perth-window-washer-reveals-what-life-is-like-on-the-roadside-ng-b881029234z

        $375/day, $150 in “a few hours”

        • prole@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          Lol, right. Just like you can just ignore air resistance when doing your physics homework.

          We all know there’s just a line of hundreds of cars, everyday, waiting to willingly give $2 to a random homeless person to wash their windshield. Just all day, cars coming through and voluntarily giving up $2 for a service they don’t need BECAUSE THE CAR CAN DO IT ITSELF.

          What reality do you live in?

        • LemmyInRedditSux @lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          Sounds like estimation of a best case scenario. If I was in one of those cars I would definitely say “no.” I don’t even look at those median grifters. And if they did climb onto the hood of my vehicle and start washing my windshield without my consent, there would be hell for them to pay.

        • Tb0n3@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          Well in my area. It’s people that just sit at a traffic light. Maybe with a dog and people just give them a couple dollars when they pass by. There’s so many different individuals going through a light at a grocery store that everybody has the chance of giving them some money without feeling like they’re being imposed on. It’s a very lucrative racket in the right area.

          It’s a fantastic way to earn money if you have no morals or self-respect.

          • PopOfAfrica@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Doesn’t seem any different to me than standing their working as a retail cashier. You’re getting paid to destroy your feet. That’s the point.

            • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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              1 year ago

              Yeah but the beggar is self-employed and can go home whenever he wants. He’s actually better off.

              I used to work in retail and I used to have to hang around in the same era of the store because it was my area of the store and they had one of those infomercial TV ad things in my aisle and it was on loop that repeated maybe every 30 seconds. That thing actually caused me mental anguish, it was like water torture listening to the same 30 second thing on a loop, for 8 hours a day.

              I used to go hid in the stockroom to get away from it.

              • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                I used to work at an arcade. Along with having to hear every machine go through its demo over and over again when no one was playing it, they also had a video tape on a hour loop. During Christmas, because the song just came out, I had to hear All I Want For Christmas Is You, every hour, 40 hours a week for a month and a half. I hate that song far more than most people who hate it.

                • Drusas@kbin.social
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                  1 year ago

                  As someone who used to regularly go to the gym, this is why I hate Shake it Off by Taylor Swift, and dislike her music in general. They played it about every half an hour. Spend an hour and a half at the gym, and you’d hear that song three times. Go to the gym three days a week, and it doesn’t take long to absolutely hate the sound of her voice.

        • PaupersSerenade@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          Money has no morals. The amount of money you have is probably the worst way to judge a character. More often it’s circumstances and I see no reason to kick someone when they’re down like you do.

          • Tb0n3@sh.itjust.works
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            1 year ago

            I’m not big on relying on charity to pay my bills. If you could get it by doing an actual job and just beg because it’s easy you’re stealing from those who actually need it.

      • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        They aren’t doing it on their own either. They usually live with family, or families. Are also on assistance, and that 2009 Mercedes that they drove the lot over, is the family car, registered to their cousin. It’s not a glamorous life, like OP thinks.

    • ASeriesOfPoorChoices@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      The downvotes from ignorance on Lemmy are simply astounding. People can’t believe things outside their tiny bubbles.

      Car window washing: $375/day, $150 in “a few hours” https://thewest.com.au/news/perth/a-16-year-old-perth-window-washer-reveals-what-life-is-like-on-the-roadside-ng-b881029234z

      Begging: $400/day https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-15/professional-beggars-intimidate-women-tourists-melbourne/6621824

      Begging, $40 before lunch, then went to work: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/164e6f/comment/c7sm5b5/ (the whole thread is really good, fantastic content in this post. There’s a link to a blog where guy begged in different ways, and logged the results. Worst: “ex-wife” ($3.30/hr), best: “wheelchair” ($23/hr))

      For 38 studies, $20usd-$60usd/day: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/10575677211036498 - which is what most people are thinking about.