The racket came from the sidewalk outside of Channel 27 News. The sign over his donations bin identified him as Smash Hitz, and he smashed several Oscar the Grouch-style metal trash cans with glee to the disgust of those walking by.
He tossed the trash cans around, banged the lids together and generally made a ruckus. Why was he making this noise? Was it a protest against the news station? Did he just happen to set up there as a street performer?
Jim mentioned the Smash Hitz guy to my friend Sophia, who lived near the station, and she got annoyed by the question.
“I called the city. They said Channel 27 news sponsored the guy, and there was nothing they could do as long as he did it during business hours.”
“Why would the news station sponsor the guy?” Jim asked
“I think they’re getting a small cut from the people sponsoring the trash cans and the few cents he’s making a day when people accidentally drop their change in disgust.”
“Doesn’t the news station know that it’s hurting them?”
The next time Jim walked by Smash Hitz, he waved at the trashcan artist, who stopped banging on the lids.
“Can I ask why you’re doing this?”
“Yeah, I’m out here performing music,” Smash Hitz said, smiling. Jim decided not to debate whether music was being performed.
“Why is Channel 27 allowing you to do this?”
“Oh, we split the profits,” Smash Hitz said.
“But why are they agreeing to that?” Jim asked.
“News is a hard business. I actually got the idea from those links at the bottom of their website. You know, ‘Four years after her big role, you won’t believe what this celebrity looks like now.’ Or ‘This special government program can save Durham residents big money.'”
“Yeah, the clickbait junk.”
“I figured if they would pay for that, maybe they’d pay for this.”
“Do a lot of people pay you?” Jim asked.
“I mostly get paid to be quiet,” Smash Hitz said matter-of-factly. “If you give me $30, I’ll take the hour off.”