14 DAY TRIAL // If you were under the impression that being a professional dog food taster or a full-time zombie must be the absolute wackiest career choice ever, try to imagine making a living as a professional beggar. One who takes credit card donations and even gives people a receipt, to be more precise.
No, we're not just building science-fiction scenarios here. Professional beggars do exist, and 37-year-old Damien Preston-Booth from Lancashire, UK, is one of them. In fact, he is one of the most successful people to have so far considered making a living asking others for money.
This guy makes a fortune being a beggar
Oddity Central tells us that Damien Preston-Booth has been a professional beggar for about 5 years now. He makes a truckload of money on the job, so it should not come as a surprise that he has no intention to embrace another career anytime soon.
The reason this beggar makes enough money to live in a rented apartment and even go on holidays abroad every now and again is that the people he asks to lend him a helping hand are all seriously rich, sometimes even celebrities.
“He has befriended the super-rich at bars and restaurants. And if there’s a big party he’ll push through the photographers and ask celebrities for cash – he knows they won’t say no in front of the cameras,” one of his friends explained in an interview.
In fact, word has it that music and television producer Simon Cowell and even media personality Sharon Osbourne have until now offered this guy money.
The ins and out of being a professional beggar
It is understood that, presently, the man travels to London each and every week, on Wednesday. Here, he approaches tourists and does his best to convince them to give him some money. If these people tell him that they don't have any cash on them, the man simply whips out his card reader.
As mentioned, 37-year-old Damien Preston-Booth even gives the people ready and willing to swap their credit cards through his reader a receipt, just in case some of them are in the habit of closely monitoring their finances.
The man does not want to be a beggar for ever
He might be doing quite well being a professional beggar for the time being, but the 37-year-old man insists that his life's goal is to find a proper job and settle down. In fact, he claims that when he traveled abroad in recent years he did so because he hoped to find work in some other country.
“I got my flat saved up and I’m looking for a new job – cleaning work, driving, anything. I’m sorting my life out,” Damien Preston-Booth said in a statement. We'll, here's hoping people will still be willing to help him out until he finally gets his affairs in order.
