Panhandling: A Lucrative Profession

“Ya know, Babe,” said my beautiful bride, “you are looking real scruffy lately. Your hair is unkempt, your face hasn’t felt a razor in several weeks, you haven’t changed out of that ratty outfit for longer than I care to remember, and you are getting a little smelly. Just because you are unemployed isn’t a good reason to let yourself go to hell.” I just smiled at her and said, “Au contraire, mi esposa, I am employed and I start my new job tomorrow.” Incredulously she asked, “Doing what?”

I had to explain that I had been inspired by the story of Robin Marie Stoveland. “Who?” queried my spouse. I reminded her of a recent article in the St. Pete Times about one of the entrepreneurs who is making her mark in the Tampa business community.

It seems that Ms. Stoveland has created a rather lucrative business for herself. She operates out of an RV parked alongside a busy Tampa intersection. She has one employee, a live-in gentleman whose main job may be to endeavor not to be a repeat offender while ensuring the security of the RV. Ms. Stoveland is the Chief Exectutive Panhandler, and her business plan is to solicit funds from gullible motorists passing her base of operations, a Tampa street corner that she has claimed as her own for several years.

While it took me two years to get through a college paralegal program before I was able to land a $15 per hour job at a diet drug defense law firm, Ms. Stoveland has parlayed her unique skills into a profession that, by her own admission, hauls in some $85 in a mere five hours. That comes to a remarkable $17 an hour, and she accomplishes this feat without having had to endure endless lectures, legal research and writing, mid-terms, finals, and maintaining a 4.0 GPA. While it is only hearsay at this time, it has been rumored that Ms. Stoveland has struck a deal with the IRS to classify her enterprise as a tax exempt entity that accepts gifts in lieu of profits.

“That is monumentally astounding,” gushed my spouse, “so what will you be doing?” To which I responded, “Well, you know that family of…uh…entrepreneurs who work the Gandy and Dale Mabry intersection? I will be interning with them for awhile, and if I can bring in enough dough…er, capital, then for a percentage I may be allowed to work the MacDill Avenue and Interbay intersection...I mean market. Isn’t that grand?”

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As an update to this story, the buzz around the bay is that the Chamber of Commerce is pondering the possibility of naming Stoveland it's Business Woman of the Year for her efforts in creating a start-up business without needing to bother with submitting a fictitious name, obtaining city and county occupational licenses, and other annoyances that plague lesser entrepreneurs while still turning a tidy profit. Congratulations Ms. Stoveland!