Dealing with Coke can pay off

If you’ve ever spent your working hours navigating a gray cubicle maze or strangling yourself with clothing hangars at a retail job, just about anything seems like a valid career alternative. Even, we’ll admit to daydreaming, joining those guys who pick bottles and cans out of your apartment trash every morning. Fresh air! Exercise! The thrill of the hunt! Maybe it’s a little messy, but we had to look at dead bodies at our last newspaper job, and you can’t turn corpses into nickels. Walking to work one day, the two of us wondered whether those humble trash pickers are really laughing their way back to McMansions in Jersey. So we decided to find out for ourselves. (more…)

Ana's afternoon haul. Photos by Vanessa Velez.

With salsa long the number one condiment in the U.S., the border between Mexican and American grocery stores is not as clear as it used to be. By now most people think of canned Goya frijoles as vritually interchangeable with Progresso’s. But do you know your poblanos from your jalapeños, or bananas from batatas (sweet potatoes)? If you’ve found yourself at your local supermarket or specialty store eyeing all of those colorful jars and odd-shaped cheeses, this guide is for you. (more…)