Punks
There is about to be a turf war down on the Magnificent Mile, all because some punk musicians think they own the best street performing spot on Michigan Ave. Until yesterday, every fellow street performer I’d met was extremely nice, friendly, and had a “we’re in this together, we gotta stick together” attitude. There are rules of courtesy, like if someone stakes out a particular spot, you don’t start doing a show right next to them.
For instance… A couple of weeks ago I went out, set up, and started doing a show. This middle aged man was very enthusiastic, gave me some money, and tried to get people to stop and stuff. Chatting with him, I found out he’s a singer, and was waiting for me to finish so he could start performing there. I did a couple of shows, and then decided to move elsewhere and let him have the spot. (Way sooner than he expected me to move..)
Now, I’d noticed that recently a certain group of three musicians always had my favorite spot on Saturdays and Sundays, and they stayed there all day. They set up little amps, seats, microphones and everything, and then just stay there… So yesterday I decided to talk to them, and even grabbed some money to give ‘em just like the other guy did for me. Three musicians: a singer/guitar player woman, a sunglasses wearing man, and a dark haired guy who didn’t say anything.
Me: Hey…do you guys know when you’re gonna be done out here?
Woman: Why, are you next?
Me: Well, I was sort of interested in using this space at some point… I’m not trying to rush you or anything, I’m just curious if you know when you’ll be done.
Sunglasses: Yeah…we just play until whenever…we stay until we stop.. And we come out here early so we don’t have to deal with this sh**. This is a big city, and there are lots of street corners out there.
Me: … ..of course.
Then I left, and didn’t give them the money I’d brought. I was pretty mad that they completely blew me off, and didn’t even give me an estimate…(”well, we usually stop sometime around ___, but it’s just whenever we get tired.”) So next week my juggling posse and I will go out very early, get the good spot, and see what happens. When I juggle in this spot I make literally five times as much money as I make anywhere else I’ve tried. Besides, especially starting early, I’ll get tired by midafternoon, so they’ll be able to have the spot from something like 3:00 on..which I think is more than fair, considering their attitude.
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