I was downtown a few nights ago, just browsing the shops and what-not, when a disheveled young man came up and asked for twelve cents.

"Twelve cents?" I asked, incredulous.

"Yeah, twelve cents would be great."

I just stared at him for a moment, then reached for my wallet.

When I got in my car, I waited a few moments to see what the young man was going to do. What did he need my twelve cents for? I knew it wasn't a parking meter issue, because the parking meters don't take pennies. Maybe he was a few cents short on a purchase, and he would be rushing back into a coffee shop or something to pay the remainder of his tab.

Instead, he just stood there, leaning against a parking meter. And then he approached a college-aged guy on the sidewalk. I couldn't hear what he said, but the college guy immediately reached into his pocket and pulled out some change.

I was impressed. Too impressed to be annoyed even. This may be the most ingenious method for panhandling I've ever seen. I mean, who's going to say no to twelve cents? Most of us who live in cities are inured to the ways of the panhandler. We may give these folks our spare change every once in a while, but—sad as it may be—for the most part we've been trained to ignore them and keep moving. We've taught ourselves to avoid eye contact, to behave as if the panhandler doesn't exist. And yet, this shaggy young entrepreneur has figured out how to penetrate the formidable defenses of the middle class. In circumventing a major social construct, he's figured out how to make us see him.

Just imagine. If he hits up fifty people per hour, for eight hours, he'll collect 48 bucks a day. That's $240 a week—$288 if he works on Saturday. That's a decent enough living. Then again, maybe he's a college kid himself, and is only doing this for beer money, in which case an hour's worth of panhandling could keep him blissfully intoxicated for an entire weekend. And you know what? Even if that were the case, I wouldn't begrudge him a penny of it. Not even two pennies. Because just when you think there's nothing new under the sun, somebody comes along and restores your faith in the resourcefulness of the human brain. This is why our species has survived when the dinosaurs couldn't. It's because we're scrappy.

Twelve cents panhandler guy, I salute you!