Income

Hey I made $11. Take that, nine-to-five job!

I wanted to play my flute this afternoon. It was about three in the afternoon. Warm outside, sun was strong, and there was this grassy spot at the far end of the Walmart parking lot under a communication tower. I unfolded my ottoman, raised my music stand, and sang into my flute. I went through Zelda tunes, classical pieces by french composers, Greensleeves, and some improv in between.

A few people waved out of their cars while driving by. There was a gas station to my right. A lady pulled up to the grass there and beckoned "come here and take this". She held up three dollars. I ran across the lawn holding my flute and thanked her. She said she enjoyed my music very much and stay safe.


Seeing positive responses, I packed up my things, and went to my car to get my busking supplies. Earlier I had gone to Home Depot to steal a few free paint stirrers. With the superglue in my car, I fixed one of the stirrers onto my "WILL TEACH CALCULUS FOR FOOD" sign. I took the sign with me back onto my lawn and propped it up, a little closer to the street this time, so people could come up to me.


One guy walked up to me and asked if I wanted money. I nodded yeah sure. He handed me about 60 cents and said that's all I have. I don't know if that meant he was homeless too or he just didn't have more change to give me. He looked kinda like a man of the street. If he was, those coins were the most valuable of my haul today.

One or two people parked their cars in front of me to take a picture of my sign. They didn't give anything though, ha ha! Or even wave and say hello.If you're willing to stop, you could at least say something. They just sped past me after taking their picture.

A Walmart employee gave me packs of Goldfish. : ) Yay! They were colored too! A family driving by stopped and gave me $5. The father said one of his daughters played the flute and if she were here, she'd play right next to me. That felt awesome. Both the Walmart guy and the father said I wasn't like the other people asking for money, that I was offering talent and giving people something. : D. I felt great.

The family said they'd like to see me again. The father wanted bring his daughter and asked if I'd be around for a while. I said yes. I should've given him my blog, but I didn't have a card ready and didn't think of it. Or maybe not, would that change his perception of me? Shortly after a guy in a truck drove up and said he was the Walmart store manager. He told me I couldn't be out here doing this, but he drove off without forcing me away. I didn't want trouble so I packed up and moved elsewhere. Later I went inside the Walmart and asked if the store manager fit the description I gave, and it probably was him driving home from work. I wanted to know it wasn't someone messing with me. If I had stayed, maybe no one else would've bothered me... but maybe the family wouldn't have come back that night anyway.

I shlepped my two ottomans, backpack, and sign across the highway near an intersection. This time, I walked into the gas station whose property I was on and asked for the manager. He wasn't in, so I gave myself the go-ahead to use their lawn. The draft from the cars was strong, so I couldn't set up very well. My sign propped sideways inside my ottoman, there was no good place for people to stop, and you couldn't hear the music well. I thought, this is a terribly dumb spot to be. Still, some guy walked to me from the gas station and gave me three dollars. He might've been someone getting gas. I was touched.

I moved soon afterwards, because the highway wasn't a safe place to be and like I said, it was a dumb spot. Played for a while in another dumb spot where no cars could stop. But it was safe, on nobody's property, and I worked on this hard piece that I couldn't play earlier in the afternoon. I got it to a point that I felt satisfied then I packed it in around 7pm.

Sorry I don't have any pictures. There was nothing to take a picture of except myself, and I couldn't do that while playing, so you'll have to use your imagination and powers of literacy to read the story carefully (ugh, I know!) to piece together the scene.

Here's a nice image to help you out. While walking from the Walmart to my spot on the hill, under the communication tower, at the far end of the parking lot, the 4 pm sun was radiant just above the crest of my hill. I could imagine how I would look to someone driving out of the parking lot... a dark silhouette against the glorious golden light.