During my first trip to Daytona Beach, Florida for Spring Break in Freshman year of college, I distinctly remember driving over the inter-coastal bridge and noticing something curious. I was still sober at the time and stuck in traffic on the way to the beach. As we slowly rolled through traffic, I noticed rows and rows of small offices in either side of the street. Each office had a gold-colored name of an attorney at law. I was surprised that a small town like Daytona Beach could keep so many attorneys employed. My guess was that the Spring Break industry was the cause. Somehow that theory stayed in my mind, and last week I got the confirmation, thanks to the Wall St. Journal.
The WSJ tells the story of 36-year-old attorney, Ben Bollinger, who plies his trade in Panama City, Florida. The town pulls in 300,000 Spring Breakers in March, who spend $60 million on goods and services. Some of those dollars go to Bollinger, who advertises on local radio stations and is regularly in court at 1am for offenses such as public intoxication and fighting. One of Bollinger's promises: not to tell their parents.
Granted, this post isn't a perfect fit with the Challenge Dividend - other than the fact that this is yet another example of the power of the free market. A challenge of drunk kids screwing up, plus an economy that let's lawyers take advantage of unique clients' unique needs, has helped keep kids somewhat out of trouble and preserved the right-of-passage of Spring Break. Amen.
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