Jason is a successful businessman with a checkered past. He’s been to rehab or detox a whopping 17 times. From corrupt cons and crack cocaine to a successful and sober career in sales, here’s just part of Jason’s amazing story, which appears in the forthcoming book The Eccentrics.
The con goes like this. Print fake business cards. Shower and shave at the homeless shelter. Apply makeup to disguise dark circles. Dress in a freshly dry-cleaned suit. Hit downtown.
“I had a complete script and I was a $100 an hour con artist,” says Jason, who was severely addicted to crack and heroin at the time he was executing this con. “There was a one minute speech… I’m the vice president of Chase Bank, I just flew in from Boston. I had an early morning pow-wow at the Chicago Board of Options Exchange. My Range Rover got towed… My wallet’s in my laptop carrying case… I cannot access my vehicle.” Etc., etc.
Jason would solicit money from passersby on the street with the promise that he would mail them a check later. He cleaned up.
“I’d get 60, 80, 100, $150, whatever,” he says.
Jason attributes his success as a con-artist and salesman to the enthusiasm provided by his hypomania.
“When I can harness and grab hold of it and use it effectively, well then I have humongous results, above average results in anything I do,” Jason explains. For Jason, mania is like a superpower.
