From a Red Paper Clip to a House

Yesterday I was reading the Raleigh News & Observer, something I don't do often. I found an article that got my brain a spinning. Do you remember the "Six Degrees of Separation" thesis? That was, and became a movie, that all people in the world are six degrees of separation from knowing everyone else. That is to say, you know someone, they know a bunch of people, who in turn know a bunch of people, etc. This idea became famous in the 1990s with the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game, a bar game where supposedly you could connect any actor or director (or who knows what else) to Kevin Bacon in six or less moves, since apparently he was connected to everyone.

Well, there seems to be a Canadian who has taken this random concept and turned it into an E-bay like profit. This man, named Kyle MacDonald, decided to try and see what the internet could do for him. He started looking online for a job, saying he wanted something bigger for his red paper clip. In Vancouver, someone offered him a trade for a particular pen for the paper clip. And thus begins the story.

Using the internet, MacDonald has kept trading up, all across both the U.S. and Canada. He traded his pen for a doorknob. Later, he traded that ceramic doorknob for a Coleman stove.

And on it goes. Currently, MacDonald has traded up to a year's free rent in a house. But he's looking for a house of his own. So he's up for trading.

For a complete perusal of his exploits and bargaining, see Kyle's website: http://oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com.

Why do Canadians usually seem to give us our best "smiley" stories? Learn, America.