The HobOCHA from Hoboken

As you know, the economic downturn has been very hard on many people.

What you might not know is that it has been hard on some of the less fortunate OCHAs too.

A case in point, Billy "the Hobo" Conehead. Billy was born to plain and loving parents that were very, very poor. His father was never able to afford to get Lil' Billy a reflective stripe when he was growing up - and troubles plagued Billy at every turn. As a rebellious teenager, Billy ran away from home and got involved in petty thievery, drugs, booze and loose "working" female coneheads.

It wasn't until he had a run in with the law and spent some time behind bars that he found religion and was saved. Released to a halfway house late last year, Billy found work selling Christmas trees at a local corner lot.



By dint of hard labor, frugalness, and an economic stimulus check, he was, at long last able to afford a couple stripes. Alas, the tree selling season was short and Billy was let go. Unable to collect unemployment, he fell on hard times - and in order to eat, he resorted to sifting through trash, looking for a morsel or two that would sustain him for another day.



Now, Billy was a rough and tough lil' cone from the streets and it turns out he had a uncle that worked for the state - and with a little bit of political patronage lubrication (yes, I do mean a well-placed bribe), Billy got a really sweet job with the highway department that was complete with full benefits, a 4-week vacation plan, a guaranteed retirement plan, and even more priceless, a small amount of power, that he immediately (ab)used to make the ordinary taxpayer's lives miserable.



Thanks to roving photojournalist LadyStyx for the first two pictures.