There's a video on Youtube that seems like just another one of those "Subway Prank" videos.
And at first, that's what it was.
Bones Rodriguez is a high-energy, all-smiles fast-talking New Yorker who talks a lot with his hands, but as we talked, I watched him get serious.
He made this original subway prank video back in 2007 (before improv-everywhere made it a staple), pretending to be a rich guy, and begging people to TAKE his money:
"I was making money from this website http://www.JobsStink.com, and I wanted to promote it. As a born-and-bred New Yorker, the panhandlers kinda all have the same pitch [to us]. I thought it would be funny to beg people the same way, but actually GIVE AWAY money instead."
He made this original subway prank video back in 2007 (before improv-everywhere made it a staple), pretending to be a rich guy, and begging people to TAKE his money:
"I was making money from this website http://www.JobsStink.com, and I wanted to promote it. As a born-and-bred New Yorker, the panhandlers kinda all have the same pitch [to us]. I thought it would be funny to beg people the same way, but actually GIVE AWAY money instead."
Pretty clever, but when you watch it (terrible quality- remember, this is 2007), there's something strange.
At 31 seconds in, there's a weird cut.
9 years later- people noticed.
While he was making a joke of giving away money, and the cynical straphangers were were actually refusing to take it...
He came upon a homeless couple.
"I was suddenly filled with this incredible guilt. I was throwing around some spare change for a joke, and here these people were actually counting coins together."
Bones says that he didn't want to embarrass them, so he just poured what he had into their hands, and then let it spill on the seat next to them.
"It looked like they were figuring out how much they had together... like trying to see how much they could eat with... I knew I had to keep the jar, but... seems stupid now. I probably should have just given them the jar."
Bones asked his friend (who was shooting on a hand-held DV tape camera!) to stop shooting, and they went and got some more change and started over.
After a little editing and dubbing magic, they released the video but absolutely no one took notice of the prank.
Despite his not-too-shabby singing voice.
He laughs again: "Like every once every 6 months someone would comment on it, usually about the bad quality. It was too early; people weren't really doing videos like that yet."
The video is actually pretty funny because the cynical New Yorkers keep refusing to take the money- it seems like that was the whole joke of the video.
But then years later, College Humor posted a very similar video, and people started to notice the similarities.
"At first it pissed me off!" said Bones Rodriguez again, very animated, "I was like 'What the hell man, we did this already!' But then I remembered that I actually got to help some people that day, and I felt guilty for being petty."
Bones Rodriguez continues to perform in New York, and you have seen him in dozens of commercials.
He still makes money from http://www.JobsStink.com, and like everyone else, he says he tries to give to beggars on the train, but sometimes he's pretty sure they're lying.
"That couple was definitely not one of those."
Watch it below:
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