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Well, with this economy we've hit a point where standing in line for rich people is an actual CAREER now.
Someone just did a big profile on a guy in New York City named Robert Samuel who does it for a living. He started a company a while ago called Same Ole Line Dudes, and he's making quite a bit of money now.
He realized there was a big market in the City back when "Hamilton" tickets were huge. When Lin-Manuel Miranda said he was leaving the cast, tickets for his last shows were going for as much as $15,000. But you could still get them at face value the morning of if you waited in line. So, he started charging $5,000 to get two tickets.
He said it usually required camping out for four or five days. So that's around $1,000 a day for his services. But for people with lots of money, it was a bargain.
The theater eventually caught on and changed its policy, so the person who bought the tickets had to go to the show. But the second ticket could still go to anyone. So Robert and the people he works with got around it by taking people as their "dates."
Now his company offers line-sitters for all sorts of things, including concerts, sporting events, or even just waiting in line for the newest iPhone. They also did it to hold spots for Covid vaccinations.
A sociology professor at Penn State says it's something that happens more and more as the wealth gap widens. Quote, "When we see really extreme income inequality, this ability to outsource personal tasks becomes more possible."
(The Guardian) Image © 2022 Getty Images