At the base of a State Street lamppost, beneath a banner that says “Celebrate Madison,” Darrell Regulus works the only job he knows.
He calls it “shaking the cup.” Others call it panhandling or begging for money.
“How’re you doing, sir?” he says to a middle-aged man walking by. “Can you help me out?”
Nothing.
Then Robert Weiss, 19, a UW-Madison freshman, gives him $5. Regulus’ mood improves â?? if he can get to $10, a motel owner near the Beltline will rent him a room for the night, he says.