So I'm in survival mode
barely managed to get a place to live
no extra money
barely enough to eat
if I make it to the food bank
no time for for posting blog entries
I've got to scrounge for food and a place to sleep
and as I'm playing for some change
I watch their faces
Busking is a type of work
IMHO
It's not easy, it takes effort
but as I watch
I see that buskers are almost disappeared in Van
Cold and snotty looks of disdain
It amazes me
The meth-head freak that walks right up and pesters people, nastily
he takes away about $30 an hour, every day
just being his junkie prick self
and the young man playing his guitar for change
he's really very good, and not bothersome
he barely scrapes 8 bux out of the passing crowds
He buys a couple beers and has a smoke, then get's back to it
We dish out money to a junkie playing the sympathy card
but the young man who's actually working
working hard, NOT begging
learning songs to play, playing his heart out
he's barely making it
Even if he's not so good, he's trying
Seems like we actually judge buskers
we set the bar high
if it's not nearly Mark Knopfler or Neil Young
It's barely worth a dime
You have to be like a live radio to make a loonie
For panhandlers the opposite happens
the more degenerate, filthy, and disturbed they are
the more we shovel into their palms
Give your money to buskers and people doing things
not beggars with their shame stories
streets with music and artists
are better than streets with hands out
I'm up next
dueling with beggars for a bit of change
