It's been a year since the global ban on plastic bags. The only people who still have them are hoarders, upcyclers, clean freaks and seniors. The world is a different place. Plastic bags are frowned upon but many folks can't stomach the rising costs...
Henry and I met at Sonic. He bought me a burger and fries while we talked business. I watched Henry mix ketchup, mayo and mustard together to create an unusual french fry dip. We went through the numbers and he helped me think about scale and reminded me about why I was doing this in the first place.
He chomped on his fries, "you need more feet on the ground man."
I nodded reluctantly, "yeah I've thought about that but then it's just more work."
"Au contraire my friend. You can work less and collect more. Get a street crew, you take 50% of everything they sell."
"Henry, man. Why are you telling me this?"
He looked behind him and stared for a minute out into the parking lot where a large woman in a mini skirt leaned into a drivers side window, exposing her barely visible thong - which looked like it was about to be swallowed by a hippopotamus.
"I know this might be hard to believe, but I used to sell marijuana. Never used the stuff, even when it became legal - but I fell on some hard times. I threw my back out at my construction job and couldn't work. The wife had a shopping problem (still does) and we were badly in debt. I organized a crew and had the whole upper East side coming to my guys. Made about 400K in ten months. I can help you!"
I crunched on an ice cube and smirked, "Holy shit Henry! Who knew?!"
He leaned in, "Here's my offer. I will help you organize a crew of 20 guys selling at $5 a bag. They get $1, you get $2.50 and my fee is $1.50. I will manage inventory and make sure they sell, you get more bags. A lot more!"
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