Missing a Mega Opportunity

Once again, I have failed to think of an idea soon enough to cash in on it. I attended some of the G-20 protests (for amusement purposes) last week, and kicked myself when I realized what an opportunity I could have had.

Next time Pittsburgh hosts all of the world's major leaders, I am going to seize the opportunity to make a bundle of money. How, you ask, in an inquisitive fashion? By selling really crappy megaphones to protesters, that's how.

I'll set up a kiosk somewhere in a protest-prone area, and I promise I'll sell out of them no matter what price tag I put on them. It didn't take me too long to realize that protesters are very passionate people, and they really want their voices to be heard. Granted, if you try to pin them down and figure out what, precisely, they want people to do in response to their protest, they will probably have no idea. But they love to be heard!

So many of the protesters I encountered really obviously just loved to hear their own voices at a very loud volume, and many of them were attempting to do this without the help of Hank's Mega Megaphone Sale.

To give you an example of what I mean about these folks... I was heading back to my car after watching a rally in Oakland, and a woman shouted at me as I walked by (without the aid of a megaphone): "Capitalist Media!!" Keep in mind that I was merely a guy with a camera, walking down the street. I had no media credentials dangling from my neck, no news organization logo of any sort. But since I was walking down the street with a camera, I'm obviously part of some evil media empire.

For kicks, I asked the woman what kind of media she would prefer, as opposed to "Capitalist Media." That stumped her pretty well. She was pretty surprised that I responded to her, and after stumbling around for a while she answered, "Uhh... a working class one!" Touche, I guess.