Almost every time I drive to the Target on Chase Avenue (and believe me, that's a lot), I see the same weird sight just to the south of the parking lot. One or two employees from the neighboring Little Caesars are standing on the sidewalk, waving some cardboard "hot and fresh" sign, gesturing to come in and buy a pizza. A modern-day sandwich board, sometimes their pre-printed signs take the shape of an oversized novelty guitar. They wiggle the signs, make eye contact ... and I drive right past them.

And they're standing out there, regardless of the weather.

It's been increasingly irking me to see these employees subjected to this demeaning task. Clearly, Little Caesars is treating these people like cheap billboards. But on New Year's Day, when the temperature barely broke 20 degrees, it just seemed cruel.

I've seen these walking billboards flitting around town when it's close to tax time, too. Dressed like Uncle Sam or Lady Liberty, it's a little funnier, and it doesn't last too long.

But the Little Caesars "props" mill around the sidewalk all year round. When it's scorching hot and when it's freezing cold. I don't think there's anything illegal about it, but it rubs me the wrong way.

Maybe I'm not doing a very good job putting my finger on it.

It think it reminds me a little of my first job when I was 15 years old, working at McDonald's. Though I signed on to flip burgers, I usually found myself mopping the floors, cleaning the bathrooms and tamping down bags of garbage in the dumpster. They paid me $4 an hour, but I still felt like slave labor -- in which some 17-year-old manager had to monetize every minute of my time. But at least I worked in solitude when on dumpster duty -- they didn't make me stand in front of traffic trying to get people through the door.

I'm sure that shivering in frigid temperatures, jiggling a poster, beats unemployment, but probably not by much. I wonder if these employees knew what they were getting into, how much they're getting paid, and if anyone orders a pizza because of their efforts.

If I had to guess, I'd say no, not much, and rarely.