Seattle man Randall James says pan handling has become so competitive that it has been nearly impossible to make a living.
“My revenue was way down this summer,” James said. “Could only eat a
meal every other day and had to cutback to only night drinking.”Over the years, James has used many pan handling gimmicks: crutches to gain sympathy, worn an eye patch, told people he was a Vietnam veteran and, at one point, had a litter of kittens he used to draw people in. After they petted the cats, James would tell them he was out of cat food and the kittens would die soon.
“The old tactics didn’t work, because everybody does that now. I had to stand out from the competition. So I got the wild idea to let people kick me in the balls,” James said. “For a price.”
For $20 you can kick James in the testicles as hard as you want. He says it is painful but can handle it and he tries not to think about the potential long term effects.
“Oh, it hurts, but now that I’m making good money I have enough booze to dull the pain,” James said. “I can take about six kicks a day. Most I took in a day was fifteen…”
But why do people do it?
“I think people just want to get aggression out. I get a lot of stressed-out office workers,” James said. “Also, a lot of people hate the homeless and this is a way for them to express that hatred.”
James also lets people punch him in the shoulder or thigh for $5 and may expand into selling face punches.
