The Discovery Channel touts its hit show “Deadliest Catch” as the most dangerous job shown on television. You may think scouting the arctic waters of the Pacific looking for some crab is definitely not for the faint of heart. Yet, it does not match the dangers and tribulations of working in a bodega in Queens. Just ask bodeguero Reynaldo Rojas, who has to stuff his day’s earnings in his crotch before shutting down the store and heading out home. The first time his bodega was burglarized, thieves broke the back wall and stole $11,000 worth of phone cards and cigarette’s—that’s a lot of cancer.
Worse, in the bodega business you have to endure the painstaking task of selling ‘penny items’: 60-cent Tic Tacs, 99-cent Doritos.

“This is not the kind of business to make money and put in the pocket,” said Mr. Rojas. “One hundred candies. How much is this? Five dollars.”

Take that Captain Sig Hansen!.

Just last Monday, another bodega owner, Bolivar Cruz, was shot in the face for a measly $300. Mr. Cruz left eight children behind. In the mid-1990’s, more than 50 people who worked in bodegas were killed in less than a year. The New York Times implies it’s the worst job on earth:

The bodega provides a livelihood, but brings long hours, low pay (some workers said they made $450 to $500 a week) and often little respect from customers.

But the bodegueros keep on truckin’. Where else could we find our 5-cent Chiclet’s?

Where Thieves Lurk, Making a Wary Living [NY Times]