Panhandling Goes High-tech

As I began my daily commute home last Thursday evening and descended the steps into the Copley Square T Station, I passed the same kindly old homeless gentleman I pass just about every day. Sitting at the top of the steps on his overturned milk crate, he's always quick with a "hello" and a "god bless you" if you decline to give him your spare change. But on this day, he was offering up neither. Instead, I heard him say "ok, I've got to go. I'm working Copley" and turned to see him speaking on a cell phone!

I had to laugh to myself and I'd like to believe that his conversation was real because the notion of a network of homeless folks in constant communication about how locations around the city are "performing" is one of those things you just want to be true because it demonstrates the beauty, resilience and injenuity of the human spirit! With the proliferation of pre-paid cell phones (no billing address required!), it's perfectly feasible that the panhandling "profession" could, like just about every other, go high-tech also!