You could be Utility Buddy

Our second most successful hires were former Chick-fil-a cows.

September 17, 2015; 11:40 AM • by Richard Hayes

If you’ve ever dreamed of being a big-time mascot entertaining thousands this is not the job for you. If your dream is making around $400 – $500 a year and performing as Utility Buddy a natural gas meter who loves to talk about being safe with Natural Gas this is right up your alley.

The full job description is posted below and listed on the Indeed website but I’ve bolded the truly relevant parts.

We have a large costume character suit who appears at special events around Richmond like festivals and fundraisers and school shows. You must be at least 5’7” to be comfortable in the suit, not nervous about being in a box like confinement, not afraid of kids or crowds, able to withstand feeling hot and sweaty for periods of time, and able to animate and provide a personality for a box-shaped character who does not speak. Agility and ability to walk in giant, lace-up boots and wear four-fingered gloves. We pay $25 an hour by mailed check anywhere from two weeks to a month after the gig. If you live in the city or the eastern part of Western Henrico (Willow Lawn, Dumbarton, Lakeside area), we might be able to pick you up, otherwise, you need transportation. We tend to favor people with prior costume character experience and call them more often than we call people without experience. Dependability essential. If you fail to show up for an assignment, we will not call you again. Our most successful hires were former Nutzy the Squirrels and former Sesame Street Live actors. Our second most successful hires were former Chick-fil-a cows. People who only wore the Liberty Insurance costume usually are not as good at this costume. We also prefer younger, in shape, athletic people. You can expect to make $400-$500 a year if you get called frequently, so this is not a part-time job, it’s the occasional extra gig. The majority of our shows in the winter are at schools, so you need daytime, weekday availability.If you are real good at this, we can refer you to another company that also hires a costume character wearer, and get you some extra gigs. Many of our upcoming events this fall are on weekends.

The job is not listed on the official city Human Resources page so I can’t speak to validity of this job but if you’ve got a lot of cow experience it can’t hurt to apply.