#trickin

Erica Banks - Trickin

Over the past few years there has been a phenomena running rampant in much of my community ; a phenomena that effects a multitude of people, in a multitude of ways. Today, with a few clickity claks of my right thumb ( I’m doing this on my 📱 & honestly, it takes more than a few clikkitys to complete 😁 ).

For decades the number 40 represented, middle age : the accepted halfway point of the journey to that promised culmination of life ( the dirt nap, aka 💀). Mid life crisis marker aka 40, is no longer “bout that life.” “40 is the new 30,” naw 40 is the new entry level “DBA” tax ( doing bidness as ) . . . a term which many small business owners are familiar with.

There’s a section of women in my community that champion $40 as their call to arms & while the $40 phenomena is very real, it is not what I will attempt to explain within these words ; I am going to explain why 40 ended up being the widely accepted figure of choice.

Lettuce imagine ( I know I said 🥬.... geez, didn’t y’all watch the “Muppet Babies?” ... use your imaginations sometimes) .... as I was saying, 🥬 imagine that Danice is blessed with hips o plenty & a body to die for ( nowadays her being attractive or not makes no difference) and needs $200 for some bill or hair or whatever; how does one such as Danice acquire said funds? Many of you are thinking she could go to work, borrow from family or something along those lines : how cute but this ain’t a fairytale. In communities such as mine across the country, Danices send that text or cashapp request to a number of blindly willing individuals but She does not request the entire $200, doing so would be folly in most instances. She sends out requests for $40 to every corner of her clueless community: sugar daddies, hustlers, deacons, studs etc. . . . You name em, a request is on the way. But why $40?

Something about a $50 bill makes it seem somewhat high class like its big brother $100, so Danice can’t ask for that from those who’ve yet to “prune” her garden : she could but of her 20 initial requests, MAYBE she hooks 2 or 3 🐟 and Danice ain’t just trying to eat a meal . . . She’s trying to eat AND put some 🐠 in the deep freezer for future use. If she asks for $100 quite a few in that initial 20 would at least want to start discussing “pruning” a little. $10 is scoffed at by Danice, she can’t even get a fill-in with that. $20 would seem to be a more efficient request, seeing as it can be handed over in the form of a single bill ( ease of exchange is undervalued ; if a person asked me for $3, I’d likely give them $5 instead 3 ones but don’t try me just because I said that, I was just explaining ease of exchange 🤓 ) but if she asks 20 individuals for $20 & 50% of those asked ( a great percentage BTW ) give in to her request. . . She only has enough to pay the bill ..... 💁🏾‍♀️ ( <— that’s Danice scoffing at the aforementioned statement ). That being said, Danice & those of her ilk agreed upon the $40 amount. If 20 are asked for $40 and 50% give in ..... 😳 .... Danice just made 100% profit. Also, if an “investor” requests pruning privileges, Danice would be justified in scoffing at such a request ( she’s likely going to fake mad & cut the individual off..... that is, until she wants/needs another 40 ).