i hate buskers

You're probably saying to yourself "but Christmas carollers are buskers, and nobody hates Christmas carollers." Except that I do.

Unless you have some amazing musical talent that hasn't been truly recognized yet (I've heard that the Violent Femmes were discovered when they were busking, if you can call them an amazing musical talent), I really feel there should be no need to stand on a corner, doing stupid things for money. How nice for you that you can swallow swords, charm snakes, recite frightening poetry, or ride a unicycle without causing any serious structural damage to yourself. Maybe you should do such things at kids' parties, where virtually everyone within the immediate vicinity will be fascinated by your every move. Why are you on my sidewalk?

But the one that takes the cake is when I walk by a busker who is pretending to be statue. Oooooh, OK, so you painted yourself up some metallic colour, and now you're going to stand still for a very long time. Wow. I don't know about the rest of you, but my city already has a bunch of really cool statues that were actually sculpted by real artists, most of which have some actual significance beyond scaring up a few coins. And yet, all these people gather round and WATCH the "statue" do nothing. What do you think they're looking at? If this busker is really doing his or her job, there should be absolutely nothing to see after the first five seconds.

Btw, this rant is because the mariachi band buskers (who I swear are the same guys in every city I visit) have moved closer to my house. I feel there is now no convenient route around them. Now almost every time I go out, I resign myself to yet another sighting of the sombreros and charro jackets....


RainyBow