A City Between the Lines 4

Busking in the city of Melbourne, Australia

10.30-1.30pm South Melbourne Market

Same weather, same place as yesterday, but things are not as subdued. The skies are still refusing to break and I'm starting to think we could really do with the rain. Just not while I'm busking.

All's well until I'm approached by a fellow mid-song who's claiming to be homeless. The quality of his clothes and shoes dictate otherwise. Before I can answer yes or no, he says 'I'm just gonna take a dollar' as he crouches before my case and leaves. I'm fuming. It's a dollar, but I'm pissed off purely out of principle. First of all, you don't interrupt me while I'm playing, especially to ask for money. Second of all, you don't lie about being homeless. Thirdly, you don't just got pinching what you please out of my case. I literally want to run down and have a few choice words with him as he strides off, but it's not worth it. This is the annoying thing about busking, you pretty much have to put up with any insult, threat or irritation because if you retaliate you're liable to be seen by people who've come in at the wrong moment and haven't seen the full situation.

Not long later, he walks past me again and I can't help but glare at him. Indignantly, he responds by telling me to "just be glad I only took three bucks, your music's not even worth it". I'm truly seeing red at this point and can't help myself, regardless of the amount of people walking past. "You know, you're a real scumbag for doing that". I say it loud and clear for all to hear. He looks stunned that anyone would say that to him, but instead of retaliating he walks away faster. As I've said this, a couple of people were putting coins in my case and one man asks me what the story was. I tell him what happened without wanting any sympathy, but he gives it to me nonetheless. "Well, it's about time someone put them in their place. They do it all the time and think they're untouchable. He's got no concept of that value of what you're doing". While I appreciate the sentiment, I still look at things from a slightly different angle with an awareness of what I'm doing. "Well, I'm sitting here receiving people's loose change, so I don't mind giving a buck. I mean, they could just come up and pinch as much as they please or do a lot worse, so I can handle them asking and it's sort of hypocritical for me not to give something since I'm receiving so much. Besides, I've gotta ignore it because if someone comes in at the wrong moment, I'll look like the one who started it." As I'm saying this, he's putting some coins in my case and I add "but, I'm glad you hung around to hear the full story!"

Aside from that character, everyone else I meet or speak to is a lot more pleasant to deal with. My friend Tiger Eyes walks past and it's the third time this week I've seen her. She's still got a bit of pain from where she injured herself in a fall a few months ago, but this isn't enough to stop her from making a flight across Australia to see her family for Christmas. I get talking to another man wearing a Wagner shirt, which I regret not asking where he got it from. It was almost like a heavy metal tshirt. "This Chopin Sonata is screaming for a Steinway grand..." is the line that gives away his occupation as a concert pianist. We talk a little bit about that and it turns out he's quite accomplished. Though he's easily three decades my senior, I can't help but feel like I have a lot of work to do if I am ever to get to his level. So it was heartening to have one man walk past later and say to me as he threw a few coins in my case, "it's good to hear something accomplished at the market for a change".

It's all relative.

12.30-3pm South Melbourne Market

I'm sitting out the front of Georgie's Harvest hoping the influx of Christmas shoppers has more of a bearing on what I earn instead of the crap weather. Though the darkness with which the clouds are rendered implies that rain is likely, there's something about the air which tells me it's unlikely.

Playing at South Melbourne market is always a more subdued affair, apart from the constant foot traffic. You mostly get young couples and families or old folks doing their morning rounds. Today is strange, since the foot traffic seems to be a continual cycle of being quiet and then being really busy all at once.

One of the funnier moments during the day is when a toddler walks towards me, completely transfixed by what I'm playing. Or so I think. He heads straight for my case and starts playing with the money and it's hard to tell whether he's fascinated by the colours and shapes of the coins or realises what they're worth. I suggest the latter since he attempts to pocket a few, only to have his attempts thwarted by his parents. "He'll go far, since he's learnt the value pretty young", I joke with them. He's a cute kid and his parents give him a couple of coins to drop in my case.