I have to admit that desperate times require desperate measures, but when I read that a New Jersey man was panhandling for a wife, I started to laugh. Is this serious?
Robert Darling is a fifty-six year old, unemployed government worker, who stands outside Manhattan’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, Columbus Circle and Wall Street locations as he has done for a decade now with a sign that reads, “I’m looking for a wealthy wife.”
You can watch Bob in action in this Youtube video by clicking here.
Bob says that he begins each day telling himself that, “Today could be the day.” The cardboard and duct taped sign folds into a square that he carries on his journey from Bradley Beach in New Jersey.
Countless women have posed for pictures with Bob but so far there have been no takers on his marriage proposal.
It isn’t just America that is panhandling in this economic downturn. Last month, a father in Canada went panhandling on the Internet, or cyber-begging as the Sun News reported. You can read about him here.
Panhandlers are nothing new to NYC. In May of this year, a dog was used in a panhandling endeavor outside of Yankee Stadium. You can see him here. The dog, named Coffee, was reported to the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to animals because he sat for hours outside the stadium with a pipe in his mouth and a Yankee jersey on his back.
Maybe Bob needs a dog to get folks to notice him. The dog could hold a sign that says, “Bob’s not such a bad guy – I know, I live with him already.”
Like I said, desperate times lead people to do the strangest things but if Bob wants to stand for hours with a sign that is his business. If he does gets a dog to do his dirty work, and stand for hours then I’ll be calling the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to animals and turning him in myself.
Sources:
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Fans-Cry-Foul-Over-Panhandling-Dog-at-Yankee-Stadium-Citi-Field–122493589.html
http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/canada/archives/2011/06/20110603-142529.html