Last evening we went downtown to play music on the sidewalk. We are not the only folks who play downtown. There are many regulars and others who show up now and then. There is unspoken etiquette among people who play. One is: “Don’t set up too near someone else,” for obvious reasons. And it’s first come, first get that spot. It’s basically dog-eat dog with some rules. No biting, etc.
Well last night we saw a spot and were going to start playing. A girl around 19 was sitting on the sidewalk near and had a “Spare Change” sign. She saw us and said, “You can’t play here!” I looked at her quizzically and asked if she was going to play. Her boyfriend then approached and said that she wasn’t but, “You’ll take her money away.”
OK, we weren’t that close to them but there is nothing in the dog rules that says you can’t play near someone “spare changing.” That was a new one. The fellow began to bark pretty loud. He looked Luke’s age and I said, “It’s okay Sweetheart.” I meant it. “Calm down.” Of course that didn’t help. It seemed very important to him that we not be there. He felt real competition. Not being in his shoes, I felt it silly. And it not being a very good spot anyway we started to walk away. Then I heard that same guy still provoked say, “That’s incredible. A street musician telling someone to get a job!” Well it turns out that Carl had had enough and said to the guy, “Get a job.” Carl isn’t one for political correctness and he’ll bark back. If it happens again, I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t move. We might have made some extra dog food there.
