It was mid-morning and the crowd was just beginning to pour into Churchill Downs, but Josh Schneider of Louisville was already hard at work, waving his arms and jumping around to attract attention.
It wasn’t hard for him to attract attention: He was wearing a huge plastic mint julep suit. A very hot one, at that. And he knew it would get hotter. “A friend got me this job,” Schneider, 32, said through the small screen in the suit. What would he earn for the day? “Not enough. I’ll work my way through mint juleps; that’s how I’ll get paid.”
Schneider may be one of the more oddly dressed, but he’s part of an army of hundreds of concession workers and ticket sellers who pick up some extra cash during Oaks-Derby weekend every year.
Debbie Jones of Louisville is here for a fourth year to sell wagering tickets. It’s two very hard days of work, but the pay is good: $375, plus tips. She hopes to get a good window in a glitzy part of the track, where the tips are best. “It’s hard work, but it’s fun,” she said. “You’ll see about everything here this weekend.”
Post time for the first race today: 11 a.m. The Oaks is at 6:04 p.m. Watch this blog today for updates from the scene in Louisville.
