Musical Beggars

[Bloomfield]

On 2002-07-08 13:57, Walden wrote:
In other words you're trying to read between the lines.

I have the sense that you are telling me something terribly significant, but it escapes me at the moment.


To get back to busking. I've always wanted to do it, but haven't had the chance/gutts yet. In the very memorable summer during which I met someone I was walking in NYC's Greenwich Village (Bleeker Street), when I came upon this man, sitting there with a sign reading "FREE ADVICE". I spoke to him, and he gave me some free advice. Ever since I've been meaning to do that, too: sit there and give free advice. I am still busy accumulating the wisdom I would hope to dispense, though.

[claudine]

Bloomfield, reading your posts just makes me feel dizzy. That's entertainment!

[Walden]

Bloomfield wrote:
I've always wanted to do it, but haven't had the chance/gutts yet.

Me too. The fact that I don't live in a populous area makes busking not look like much of an option.

[jim stone]

I never give to beggars/panhandlers,
etc. because I figure they're likely
to use the money for drugs--but
I've been taken in a couple of times
by con artists on the street
in St. Louis, one black, one white.

I like Latin, even though I don't
understand it. And I did use
'quid pro quo' in my earlier message.
Of course I didn't understand it.

Busking does require lots of people
if you're going to make any money.
Yes, it does improve the urban
environment--one reason that
the police in St. Louis don't
bother us. Makes the city seem
alive. We are supposed to buy
licenses, but I never did. Best

[The Weekenders]

Busking tickles the imaginations of the passerbys, especially if you find an interesting place to do it. It's makes tourists think that that locality is better/hipper/more exciting than whereever they came from when in fact , it really only shows how brazen/desparate/musically hungry to express the busker might be.

We have perhaps more buskers here in Bay Area but mostly because we have so much street life here, including many wealthy people hanging around along with the tourists. They buy the coffee and create demand for multi-flavored bagels and pastries, drive up prices, create opportunities for interesting retail shops etc. and especially hang around in our many bookstores. Really, Berkeley is weird for its combination of professional students, wealthy authors/music bus/therapist types, college profs working and retired, visionaries (slightly cleaner than homeless), out-patient psychotics, religious types and political activist/parasites. It leads to a florid street life which some people find exciting as noted above and does in fact foster the arts. I managed a store in a corner of the Gourmet Ghetto (place where fancy California Cweeseen was invented) for years and had time to develop my usual Weekender-type impressions as noted above.

But I always wonder how many people are asking themselves as they watch, "What's it like to not have to go to work?" while they grit their teeth and think about their committed life of bills and bosses.

Some of the street musicians have a real superiority attitude because they don't have those cares but I am always put off by the fact that they don't grasp the symbiosis of it all. Many marginal people in this society depend on this big pool of everybody else doing what they don't want to do. My phrase is: "They all want to go to the party, but nobody wants to buy the beer." And Berkeley is their haven.

I get the strong urge to busk down at a plaza on Fourth St. in Berkeley sometimes just for the heck of it but I don't want to do it alone and other Weekenders aren't interested.

The closest thing to busking I did was playing Xmas music at the Embarcadero Center at night , outside, in winter cold for two weeks leading up to the holiday. Crooning White Christmas while freezing my arse on cold concrete is only something I would recommend to the young.

The reactions were funny though because people thought we were busking and kind of homeless even though we were being paid. We were instructed NOT to open our instrument cases.

I may yet busk now with the whistle cause its so easy to carry and protect compared to a fancy-pants classical guitar. That was always a poor fit as you worry about the guitar's health from sun or cold all the while..
But , as others will say:


_________________
"Its always [about] you."

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: The Weekenders on 2002-07-08 19:18 ]</font>

[susnfx]

Have to reply to Brian's post (back a little) - I know exactly who and where you mean. Sorry, but there are too many agencies, shelters, etc., where these people can get help that I never give handouts. As Brian said, our local news has covered this several times and we've been encouraged to give to the charitable organizations, shelters, agencies that can help these folks - and that's what I do. (busking is it? - I don't mind that - just holding out a hand and asking for cash is what bothers me)
Susan

[Rockymtnpiper]

"I never give to beggars/panhandlers,
etc. because I figure they're likely
to use the money for drugs--"

This reminds me of the shenanigen I plan on pulling one of these days. We are starting to have a problem with "work for foord" panhandlers in Grand Jct. My plan is to completly ruin their day, and show up playing my Pipes and displaying a couple of huge signs. one sign will say "move along people, there is nothing for you to see" and "will work for Crank".

[WyoBadger]

I saw a comercial recently; I don't even remember what it was advertising, something about the power of music.

It showed an attractive young lady playing a lovely sad tune on a violin in a subway station. A paper cup sat on the ground next to her, and as she played with her eyes closed, several people placed money in the cup as they passed or paused to listen. At the end of the comercial, the girl puts away her fiddle and walks off--without the money. She didn't even realize anyone was listening.

Very cool.

[The Weekenders]

Hey Rocky:
All you have to do is actually offer them work. That usually shuts em up. They don't want to work, except for holding the sign. And everytime a well-meaning liberal sucker (as in a decent Christian, unfortunately) gives em something besides a work offer, it encourages em.
We have so many here in Bay Area that I have come up with the crackpot scheme of "registered, bonded Homeless." They have to carry ID cards and agree to be deloused and steam-cleaned once a week, their clothes burned and new thrift duds given em. In exchange, they could sleep in designated areas with portapotties.
Think it would work? To them:

[MurphyStout]

To Brian Lee and susnfx,
Let me give you some perspective. Never judge a man until you've walked in his shoes. People don't just wake up one morning and decide to be bums. Everything that happens to each one of us is related to our environment. People become bums because they've interacted with people, had some bad experinces, and made bad decisions that you might have made if you were in there shoes. We are what we've had to deal with and how we deal with it. Granted they've made some bad choices in their lives. But for instance, did either one of you play sports as a child? If you did why? Maybe you saw it on t.v. and wanted to try it? Or maybe your parents made you do it? Or maybe your friends got you to play it? Well what if you didn't have a t.v. or you never saw it on t.v.? What if your parents had signed you up for a different sport? Or what if you didn't have any friends when you where little? Would you have still gotten into that sport? The same could be said about whistling. What if you had never heard or seen a whistle before or listen to irish music before? Would you still have gotten into irish music and whistling? The same could be said of Drugs and alcohol. What if your friends had gotten you to try drugs and alcohol, and it made you feel good? Well what if your mom died that next week? You would want to feel better, then wouldn't you do what makes you feel better? And you turned to drugs to make you feel better. Sooner or later you're hooked and you sell your belongings and go into debt to get your fix. And sooner or later you end up on the streets. Life is just a cycle of what happens to and how you deal with it. Or maybe you went to college and worked for a big corperation like enron or the Worldcom or whatever and execs. screwed you out of your job and you lost your home and your retirment and started hitting the bottle hard? Or maybe you watch MTV or E! and you get programed to not think and it "triggers" you into parting and it got out of control? Or like my buddies at work. They are all hard working but they tried drugs and alcohol and now do them on a regular basis. So all they can afford is to work to pay rent and work pay for the trip to the bar a few times a week. Its their hobbie, like whistling is your hobbie (sh*t, I've even see a whistler on the verge sell his belongins just for his hobbie. Much to the ditrement of his health and his dog. (I won't mention your name Loren)) Well what if they suddenly got sick or ill? Would that national health care system kick in? Oh wait, we don't have one. (And at least places in this state and elsewhere are starting to stop accepting mediCal or Medicaid) So ther'ye too hurt to work. So they can't work to pay for their rent or pay for there hobbie. And they might start living on the street, or go to begging and living off their parents. People get "triggered" into their actions one way or another. So never judge a man until you've walked in his shoes.
So then you say, why don't they just get a job? They're bums. They don't look presentable, they don't smell presentable and they aren't presentable. Do they have that good intervue outfit in the box next to them. Do they have a shower to clean themselves up for the intervue, do they have an address or a telephone where they can be contacted at? Do they? Are you going to give them some clothes, or a place to take a shower. No, because you don't give charity to a rat like that!
And what about those centers. I'm guessing you're both republicans? Richard Nixon (the last good republican president) started these homeless shelters for bums and handicaped people. And Ronald (the teflon) Reagan stopped funding them. So there isn't even 1/6 of the homeless centers out there that there was 20 years ago. So if your a bum, are you going to buy a plane ticket and fly to a city that still has one? No, because your a bum. You could hitchhike, but that would be BEGGING for a ride.
So, I say if you see a bum give him a buck or two at the very least it will pay for his next fix and he'll feel better for a little while. Anyways I've talked enough.

Jack Murphy

p.s. I'm nineteen, work over forty hours a week, go to full school time, play soccer full time and know my history because I was "triggered" by a good history teacher and I was "triggered" to think about more than myself.

p.s.s. I've never had a drop of alcohol and I've never tried drugs.

p.s.s.s. Those who are more fortunate should look after those who are less fortunate.

p.s.s.s.s. read a book called Nickel and Dimed it might give you some perspective on the poor class in America.

[Alan]

Jack...

That was an impassioned statement regarding the 'bums', my friend and I applaud you! It's so easy to be dismissive and to forget that 'there could easily go I' were circumstances different. Though some may be charlatans, it's a shame when all get tarred with the same brush.

[alicefromwonderland]

If you are afraid, that your money can be used for drugs or alcohole, don't give them. Try to give them some food. It's simple.

[Brian Lee]

Oh Jack,

If only you knew. I applaud your speech, but the fact is you DON'T know my life's history, nor do you know most ANYBODY'S life histories, save you own (I imagine).

So stick with what works...working on YOU. The fact is, here in Salt Lake City, there are more opportunities for people who really ARE interested in working for a living than you seem to guess.

We ALL fall on hard times. We ALL have to work through them. We ALL are presented with choices in our lives. I bet you'd be hard pressed to find SOMEONE who has never been fired or layed off from a job at some point in thri life, even if it was a menial one. Most of us are able to cope, and move on - proactively.

To return to the main topic, I will STILL not give one red cent to these vultures, as they have not done, are not doing and will not ever do anything to work for it/earn it. If I must earn my money, by hard work, and honest living, and if I must pay taxes, and if I'm required to insure my car etc. etc., then I refuse to just GIVE away my money.

As Susan has mentioned - the best way we as citizens can help, is to support local charities, and the like to offer hope, and better options, and most importantly love. So, I've said my piece, and after getting that all out, I believe I'll go play down on the corner for a few hours this evening...with NO sigh up asking for tips.

Good luck in life young grasshopper.

B~

[DazedinLA]

Los Angeles also has a lot of people on the street begging for money for food. Lots of cities and towns out east deal with their homeless by buying them one way Greyhound bus tickets to LA. The street musicians (many of whom are USC/UCLA music students) tend to hang out on the 3rd Street Promenade, especially on weekends, and it's clear that while they accept money, they are not beggars.

I recall one evening after having dinner at a nice restaurant in Beverly Hills...one of those restaurants where if you dont eat all your food and want to take it home they wrap it up for you in gold foil mashed around to look like a swan or something...anyway, after dinner, my former wife and I were walking along Rodeo Drive and this beggar comes up asking for "money for food...Im really hungry, man".

So I said "I dont have any money for you, but if you're hungry, here is some really good food if you want it" and I handed him the FoodSwan. He was stunned, in an annoyed kind of way, but he took it with a quiet scowl.

My wife and I strolled around for a while that night, and later walked by the spot where we had met the beggar. The guy was gone, but there in a nearby wastecan was the gleam of gold foil. The moment our backs were turned he had tossed the food away and moved on to some other corner.

In New York begging/buskingis a big business. A recent NPR news piece documented the activities of some beggars who make over $60,000 per year begging and selling used books, and some purposely change from Izods and kakhis into rags so they can look the part when they "go to work" when it is their shift on their favorite street corner. So it seems clear that in at least some cases, giving money to these people does not help them leave the streets, it actually encourages them to stay. If we stopped giving them money, they would move on to something more profitable...hopefully something more healthy and constructive.

Im not saying that we should not help where we can, but in a strange way parting with a dollar to a street beggar is the easy way out...the harder task is to commit making truly effective contributions of time and money to good charitable organizations that really reach out to people in need.

And the street guys who play instruments, that's a bit different. At least those guys are making music that can touch people in some way. A street whistler who plays a tune I stayed around to hear and enjoy deserves my dollar because I've gotten something from his music, and if he uses my dollar for a pint or a burger or some strange crystalline substance, well he at least has earned my dollar and can spend it as well or badly as he wishes.

Kev / DAZED / NUMBER 35

P.S. Damn! One post closer to 300. I'm taking a week off from the board...maybe I'll drop down to 38 or even 40.

"Who are you?"
"I am Number Two"
"Who is in charge?"
"You are Number Six"

Ah, who even remembers the great shows anymore?

_________________
<a href="http://www.geocities.com/whistleannex/index.html">The Whistle Annex</a>, Home of the Chiffboard Matrix

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: dazedinla on 2002-07-09 08:48 ]</font>

[blackhawk]

On 2002-07-09 02:21, MurphyStout wrote:
Let me give you some perspective...And what about those centers. I'm guessing you're both republicans? Richard Nixon (the last good republican president) started these homeless shelters for bums and handicaped people. And Ronald (the teflon) Reagan stopped funding them.
p.s. I'm nineteen, work over forty hours a week, go to full school time, play soccer full time and know my history because I was "triggered" by a good history teacher and I was "triggered" to think about more than myself.

Triggered, brainwashed...you say tomato, I'll say "tomahto." BTW, I had all the answers when I was nineteen, too.