Honor Among Thieves
It's Sunday night around 8. I woke up late, as is typical for a Sunday. Then, I put in a few hours at work for some over time pay. I napped for a little bit, watched a movie, and am planning to read myself to sleep after I post this blog. I love having lazy Sundays. (True, I have lots of housework related stuff that I should have done today, but I worked a little and made some extra cash, so I figure I earned a reward).
This weekend was fun. A friend hung out with me around the backyard fire pit for a few hours Friday night. I played a benefit thing in Galway on Saturday. And I did some busking in Saratoga.
The benefit was fun to play. There was a lineup of open mic regulars who performed 45 minute sets over a four hour period in which spaghetti dinners were served to diners. I arrived a little bit late and missed some of Pete Morselino's set. Hanging out with the other open mic regulars (Ray Pashoukos, Mark Stewart, Maurizio, and Emily Smith -- who put the whole thing together) was pretty cool. Mark's dad bought me a drink, which was also pretty cool. We all ate spaghetti together while each of us played. I understand that the benefit raised a good amount of money for the cause, but there were not a lot of dinners sold. What was really disappointing was how many people chose to select "attending" on the facebook event page -- not even half of those showed.
After the benefit, I headed to Saratoga with intentions of busking on Broadway into the night. I parked in the usual spot (the parking garage near Irish Times) and walked up Phila onto Broadway. I could see across the street a couple of high school age girls with brass instruments and sheet music playing. Not even four store fronts away was Borders (one of my favorite spots), in which a teen had an electric guitar (and sheet music -- wtf? you don't even know the songs you're playing? and people are giving you money? I call bullshit on this). There was someone on the opposite side of Broadway with an acoustic and about seven store fronts down Tristan (A piano wiz, who often attends open mic) had a little toy piano that he was using. Three store fronts further down was the guy that is always out playing his banjo.
It was Traver's weekend, which is a big deal in Saratoga. It's the last race of the track season and it draws quite a lot of people to the area. Broadway was packed with people and navigating the sidewalks with your guitar case in hand, a bottle of water in the other hand, and your harmonica pack under your arm isn't the easiest thing when there are tiny dogs and leashes to trip over and such-like.
But, I thought it would be worthwhile to busk. Clearly, many others felt the same way.
I crossed the street and intended to set up about a full block away from the kid in front of Borders. Then, I thought that I would be too close and, even though he was using sheet music, I felt he deserved respect for getting there sooner than me and I didn't want to crowd his space. So, I walked another half of block away and set my guitar case down in an area near Saratoga Coffee Traders. They have an outdoor area with tables and chairs that juts out into the sidewalk, which creates a bit of a bottle neck. I thought it might cause people to slow down and hear me play. It did. It was a good spot.
I played for about forty five minutes there. I received some cash. I sold a CD (to someone who recognized me from open mic "About a year ago"). One of the patrons of Coffee Traders listened for quite a while and gave me approving nods at times. He put a five-er in my case when he left. It was a good spot and I intended to keep playing there for a while.
A few weekends ago I was busking in front of Borders (as I said, I like that spot) and a guy walked by with a guitar case. I was in between songs and was taking a sip of water when I gave him a nod (I play guitar, he plays guitar. We are practically family). He nodded back and asked me how it was going -- I liken this to a prostitute saying to another prostitute, "How's tricks?" In other words, "Are people dropping money in the guitar case tonight? Or no?" I told him it wasn't bad, but not my best. He commented on my spot in front of Borders stating it was a good one. I agreed. He joked that he'd have to get there earlier next time. I laughed. He went on his way looking for a good spot for himself. I saw him much later that night quite a ways away from where I was playing.
I bring this up because I feel like there is an 'honor among thieves' element at work with the way that the buskers work with each other. In other words, "This is your spot. I'll find my own that doesn't infringe upon your 'territory,' so-to-speak." And throughout my busking experience, I've always honored the territory of other buskers and respected their spots and had received the same in return. For example: That old guy with the banjo is ALWAYs in the same spot. I would never dream of setting up there or near there -- even if he wasn't around.
I seriously cannot believe what happened Saturday night. I was playing in front of Saratoga Coffee Traders, as I said, doing my thing. I finished a song, smiled at a passerby and was about to change harmonica keys when I heard guitar music... and it wasn't coming from far away. I looked up and two (yes TWO) storefronts down from where I was playing, was a jerk/moron/dipshit/asshole/rude-mother-f*cker playing guitar with his case open.
I was seriously shocked. The nerve of this guy... He totally infringed upon my territory. He totally broke the code of buskers. He clearly has no honor among thieves and I really seriously wish him the worst -- not only in busking, but life in general. I mean really... who would do this? Only a jerk/moron/dipshit/asshole/rude-mother-f*cker who generally sucks at life.
Many thoughts ran through my head, "did he not see/hear me?" "Is he blind and deaf?" "Is he an effing asshole?" No. No. Yes.
So here's what I did: I packed up my guitar. Walked down to this guy with guitar case in hand and took a picture of him with my cell phone (I'd post the picture of this jack-ass, but it was dusk and my cell phone doesn't take good pictures in the dark). I looked him in the eye and he ignored me, choosing to look down at his fret board. I wanted to kick him in the face. But, I just walked away. I should have set up my case right next to him... haha.
I decided to grab a coffee at Uncommon Grounds and "take a break" from busking. I went back out on the street about an hour later. The amount of buskers -- if you can believe it -- doubled. Every forty or fifty feet was another one. They were drowning each other out! No honor among theives. I wanted to say something to some of them.
Instead, I just wandered around for about a half an hour. By now, the sky was pitch black and it was after nine. The buskers started to call it a night and I finally found a whole block to myself. I set up my case and played for about two more hours. I took about a thirty minute break and then played again for another hour. And it was the best three hours of busking I have ever had! I sold another CD and received two five dollar bills from passerbys -- one of which was excited when he heard me playing What's Up by Four Non-Blonds. A group of guys stopped while I was playing Free Fallin' by Tom Petty. Petty was at SPAC the night before and they had gone to the concert. We talked about Petty for a while (one of the guys was, like myself, a huge fan). A few additional people stopped while we were talking to interject that they enjoyed the concert. Someone asked what else I know by Petty and I said I'd do Wildflowers since we had talked about that album being fabulous. I played and the group stayed to hear the whole song. There was about eight or so people there at that time and more stopped. I received a great round of applause when I finished and nods of approval. Most of the group gave me two dollars each. I shook some of their hands and they wished me the best. It was one of my best busking moments ever! The one guy was seriously impressed and it made me forget about how pissed I was at some of the busking folk/jerks that I came across earlier.
When I had first arrived in Saratoga, I had -- seriously -- no money in my wallet. I had to spend the two dollars that I leave in my guitar as "bait" on water. I ended up leaving with over thirty dollars (not counting what I spent on an additional bottle of water, a coffee, a dough boy, and the two CD sales -- which I keep separate from busking money) and a couple of incense sticks (given to me by a guy who had a picture of me on his phone from an open mic night from like two years ago -- he recognized me. How cool is that!).
The moral of this story is: Busking is a lot of fun, but there are some fools out there who ignore the unspoken codes and who are generally rude people... and they deserve to be kicked in the face... only, we don't do that.
This weekend was fun. A friend hung out with me around the backyard fire pit for a few hours Friday night. I played a benefit thing in Galway on Saturday. And I did some busking in Saratoga.
The benefit was fun to play. There was a lineup of open mic regulars who performed 45 minute sets over a four hour period in which spaghetti dinners were served to diners. I arrived a little bit late and missed some of Pete Morselino's set. Hanging out with the other open mic regulars (Ray Pashoukos, Mark Stewart, Maurizio, and Emily Smith -- who put the whole thing together) was pretty cool. Mark's dad bought me a drink, which was also pretty cool. We all ate spaghetti together while each of us played. I understand that the benefit raised a good amount of money for the cause, but there were not a lot of dinners sold. What was really disappointing was how many people chose to select "attending" on the facebook event page -- not even half of those showed.
After the benefit, I headed to Saratoga with intentions of busking on Broadway into the night. I parked in the usual spot (the parking garage near Irish Times) and walked up Phila onto Broadway. I could see across the street a couple of high school age girls with brass instruments and sheet music playing. Not even four store fronts away was Borders (one of my favorite spots), in which a teen had an electric guitar (and sheet music -- wtf? you don't even know the songs you're playing? and people are giving you money? I call bullshit on this). There was someone on the opposite side of Broadway with an acoustic and about seven store fronts down Tristan (A piano wiz, who often attends open mic) had a little toy piano that he was using. Three store fronts further down was the guy that is always out playing his banjo.
It was Traver's weekend, which is a big deal in Saratoga. It's the last race of the track season and it draws quite a lot of people to the area. Broadway was packed with people and navigating the sidewalks with your guitar case in hand, a bottle of water in the other hand, and your harmonica pack under your arm isn't the easiest thing when there are tiny dogs and leashes to trip over and such-like.
But, I thought it would be worthwhile to busk. Clearly, many others felt the same way.
I crossed the street and intended to set up about a full block away from the kid in front of Borders. Then, I thought that I would be too close and, even though he was using sheet music, I felt he deserved respect for getting there sooner than me and I didn't want to crowd his space. So, I walked another half of block away and set my guitar case down in an area near Saratoga Coffee Traders. They have an outdoor area with tables and chairs that juts out into the sidewalk, which creates a bit of a bottle neck. I thought it might cause people to slow down and hear me play. It did. It was a good spot.
I played for about forty five minutes there. I received some cash. I sold a CD (to someone who recognized me from open mic "About a year ago"). One of the patrons of Coffee Traders listened for quite a while and gave me approving nods at times. He put a five-er in my case when he left. It was a good spot and I intended to keep playing there for a while.
A few weekends ago I was busking in front of Borders (as I said, I like that spot) and a guy walked by with a guitar case. I was in between songs and was taking a sip of water when I gave him a nod (I play guitar, he plays guitar. We are practically family). He nodded back and asked me how it was going -- I liken this to a prostitute saying to another prostitute, "How's tricks?" In other words, "Are people dropping money in the guitar case tonight? Or no?" I told him it wasn't bad, but not my best. He commented on my spot in front of Borders stating it was a good one. I agreed. He joked that he'd have to get there earlier next time. I laughed. He went on his way looking for a good spot for himself. I saw him much later that night quite a ways away from where I was playing.
I bring this up because I feel like there is an 'honor among thieves' element at work with the way that the buskers work with each other. In other words, "This is your spot. I'll find my own that doesn't infringe upon your 'territory,' so-to-speak." And throughout my busking experience, I've always honored the territory of other buskers and respected their spots and had received the same in return. For example: That old guy with the banjo is ALWAYs in the same spot. I would never dream of setting up there or near there -- even if he wasn't around.
I seriously cannot believe what happened Saturday night. I was playing in front of Saratoga Coffee Traders, as I said, doing my thing. I finished a song, smiled at a passerby and was about to change harmonica keys when I heard guitar music... and it wasn't coming from far away. I looked up and two (yes TWO) storefronts down from where I was playing, was a jerk/moron/dipshit/asshole/rude-mother-f*cker playing guitar with his case open.
I was seriously shocked. The nerve of this guy... He totally infringed upon my territory. He totally broke the code of buskers. He clearly has no honor among thieves and I really seriously wish him the worst -- not only in busking, but life in general. I mean really... who would do this? Only a jerk/moron/dipshit/asshole/rude-mother-f*cker who generally sucks at life.
Many thoughts ran through my head, "did he not see/hear me?" "Is he blind and deaf?" "Is he an effing asshole?" No. No. Yes.
So here's what I did: I packed up my guitar. Walked down to this guy with guitar case in hand and took a picture of him with my cell phone (I'd post the picture of this jack-ass, but it was dusk and my cell phone doesn't take good pictures in the dark). I looked him in the eye and he ignored me, choosing to look down at his fret board. I wanted to kick him in the face. But, I just walked away. I should have set up my case right next to him... haha.
I decided to grab a coffee at Uncommon Grounds and "take a break" from busking. I went back out on the street about an hour later. The amount of buskers -- if you can believe it -- doubled. Every forty or fifty feet was another one. They were drowning each other out! No honor among theives. I wanted to say something to some of them.
Instead, I just wandered around for about a half an hour. By now, the sky was pitch black and it was after nine. The buskers started to call it a night and I finally found a whole block to myself. I set up my case and played for about two more hours. I took about a thirty minute break and then played again for another hour. And it was the best three hours of busking I have ever had! I sold another CD and received two five dollar bills from passerbys -- one of which was excited when he heard me playing What's Up by Four Non-Blonds. A group of guys stopped while I was playing Free Fallin' by Tom Petty. Petty was at SPAC the night before and they had gone to the concert. We talked about Petty for a while (one of the guys was, like myself, a huge fan). A few additional people stopped while we were talking to interject that they enjoyed the concert. Someone asked what else I know by Petty and I said I'd do Wildflowers since we had talked about that album being fabulous. I played and the group stayed to hear the whole song. There was about eight or so people there at that time and more stopped. I received a great round of applause when I finished and nods of approval. Most of the group gave me two dollars each. I shook some of their hands and they wished me the best. It was one of my best busking moments ever! The one guy was seriously impressed and it made me forget about how pissed I was at some of the busking folk/jerks that I came across earlier.
When I had first arrived in Saratoga, I had -- seriously -- no money in my wallet. I had to spend the two dollars that I leave in my guitar as "bait" on water. I ended up leaving with over thirty dollars (not counting what I spent on an additional bottle of water, a coffee, a dough boy, and the two CD sales -- which I keep separate from busking money) and a couple of incense sticks (given to me by a guy who had a picture of me on his phone from an open mic night from like two years ago -- he recognized me. How cool is that!).
The moral of this story is: Busking is a lot of fun, but there are some fools out there who ignore the unspoken codes and who are generally rude people... and they deserve to be kicked in the face... only, we don't do that.