Scrap metal, much better than minimum wage

Just saw interesting folks pulling scrap out of a dumpster across the street from my apartment. So I decided to go down and chat with them. There were two guys working pulling out assorted items, brass removed from a sink, copper from electronics, aluminum mini-blinds and some other assorted metals (metal from exterior light fixtures, curtain rods, bike rims, etc). I chatted with one of the guys and he's been doing this for 20 years! He got into the business working the other side of the counter at a recycling center, earning minimum wage, watching homeless guys walk away with checks for $200+. So he quit, and started collecting scrap. He says he averages about $200 a night. He also is quick to criticize other folks who make a mess and ruing it for folks like him. He makes sure to keep everything in the containers he scraps from and not just leave a mess on the sidewalk. I asked him which metals were most valuable and what he got for them? Copper ($1.68/lb) and brass($0.74). Seems inline with the prices in the table (for the curious TL=truckload, LTL=less than truckload).

So here's some food for thought, say he rebells against a 5 day work week and only works the nights between weekdays, takes a generous 8 weeks of vacation a year and earns a little less than he claimed to me. $175/day 4 days a week 44 weeks = $30800. That's more than I made working full time, 5days a week, with 2weeks of vacation starting out at a software development firm (in NC...cost of living is much less than here in NYC, but still). Of course I got health insurance, but after watching SiCKO this evening somehow that seems less valuable that it did yesterday, but hey I'll save that for another post.

(daily scrap prices from demolitionscrapmetalnews.com)