Mile
Zero

"I've got three articles in here," the Street Sense vendor says proudly.

"Oh yeah?" I ask.

"This one here on the front page," he says, pointing to an op-ed about being in a relationship while homeless. "This one about the Patriots, and..." He searches for a moment, unable to find a third, but unwilling to give up a perfectly good line of patter: "...and I'm top of the sales rankings, thanks to good people like yourself."

He is indeed. In fact, he's got almost twice the number of sales of the next highest vendor, perhaps thanks (as his op-ed notes) to the natty-looking suit he wears under the bright yellow Street Sense caution vest. Although the location--corner of L and 18, in the middle of the suit-and-tie-mandatory Golden Triangle--probably doesn't hurt.

I should have asked which he enjoys more, the writing or the selling. Or does he use the former to give him an edge on the latter? It certainly worked for me.