people in high school were always telling me how funny i was and that i should be a stand-up comic. of course, those were the people that got my jokes. those that didn't threw rotten food at me. no, not quite. but people would tell me i should do stand-up. as much as i love stand-up comics and might have entertained the idea, i would shut up such comments by pointing out that i make fun of the environment around us (micro) and that comics must tell jokes encompassing a wider circle (macro) for their audience. no one ever retorted that i could hone my comedy style to a wider audience which was sad because they either had brains too small to think such things or they didn't believe i was funny enough to really be a stand-up once i pointed this out.

there's something about LA that i've noticed that is such fodder for stand-up comedy. we still have the freeway exit fruit vendors but what's with all the people holding up business signs at intersections? what happened to posting signs? is it illegal to post signs now that you have to have people hold them? everywhere you turn there are people holding signs. it's the worst job and i feel sorry for everyone of those bums standing out in the sun and waving the sign over and over again to cars that drive by and don't care. does this really increase business? who cares. the businesses are obviously wiling to pay for it. the problem is that they are paying the wrong people.

you know who they should be hiring? the homeless! look at all the signs they make. and they're creative about it too. you don't need to train them either. you see a lot of young people holding the business signs unenthusiastically and sometimes have the signs turned so that the passing traffic cannot read them. a homeless person would never do that. if their signs aren't seen, they don't eat. hire the homeless to hold the signs! it wouldn't be that expensive either. just pay them with food and cardboard. imagine the job interview.

interviewer: "do you have a problem with standing for long periods holding a sign?"
applicant: "uh, i'm homeless. that's all i do."