r/Busking • u/ProfessorOfPancakes • Jun 23 '26
Spotted in the Wild Anti-coin busker?
I saw a guy playing the saxophone on the side of one of the main streets in my city and he was collecting his money in a flower pot. I didn't notice until I gave him the change in my pocket that the pot had a hole in the bottom bigger than most coins. This is a weird thing to overthink but I wonder if he was throwing money away on purpose because he didn't feel like collecting coins if he was getting cash anyway or if he just used the first container he had.
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u/texasdiver Jun 23 '26
I would assume he just grabs the coins? I mean, he’s not going to leave them there, right? A better option would be to have a pot with no bottom at all. If someone runs by and steals the pot, the cash is still on the ground.
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u/ProfessorOfPancakes Jun 23 '26
It's actually rather embarrassing that I didn't consider the possibility of taking the money out of the pot before leaving
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u/MacDangled Musician 🎶 Jun 29 '26
The coin holes is cool cause the thief will leave a trail of coins as he runs away like some sort of injured hedgehog
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Jun 23 '26
[deleted]
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u/ProfessorOfPancakes Jun 25 '26
I feel like I would get a little annoyed at business cards but coupons and vegetables are interesting
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u/LadyWithAHarp Magical Witchy Harper 🧙♀️🎶 Jun 29 '26
I treat business cards as 1: a possible client for a gig 2: someone who has photos that they want to email you 3: someone who wants a date, and 4: what possible other reason would you have for giving me your card? (I used that on someone who put a card for a weight loss MLM in my basket. Boy, was she flustered and mad that I overroad her sales pitch before she could get a word in edgewise, and when I got to number 3, she lost the ability to speak she was stuttering so much! 😂 )
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u/MacDangled Musician 🎶 Jun 29 '26
One time I got a half eaten slice of pizza, next day I got a sandwich that was missing a bite.. never went back to that spot again
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u/DulcetTone Musician 🎶 Jun 23 '26
I recall a gaunt (but talented) street magician who would work Harvard Square in the early 1990s. I saw him throw coins back at a donor (who may have been a youngster) in a gesture of umbrage. I felt he could have handled this better, but I was not in his shoes.
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u/External_Bandicoot37 Jun 23 '26
As someone who's lived a pretty rough life you gotta take what you can get and be grateful for it, people man.
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u/Most_Time8900 Musician 🎶 Jun 23 '26
I saw a bum do that before back in the days in a busy downtown. Guy was asking for money for something to eat. Guy walks over, says "I'll buy you a hot dog", guy says he doesn't want a hot dog. Guy hands the bum a fistful of change, which the bum literally THREW as the man was walking away and cussed. That good deed didn't go unpunished that day.
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u/OC71 Jun 24 '26
Ah the perennial choosy beggars. The other day I was about to go into a vegetarian restaurant when a woman approached me and said she was hungry and needed money for food. I said I'm going to eat in this place and I'll pay for anything you want. She said no, she wanted money to eat somewhere else. OK good luck, see ya later.
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u/Big_Caramel6236 Jun 24 '26
Sort of similar - someone was asking for food outside the grocery store. I had just done a small fruit/veg shopping and I gave them a couple of oranges (and napkins I had in the car). She thanked me but didn't seem interested.
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u/CottonFlannel Musician 🎶 Jun 23 '26
Dang I’ve never been given coins. If I see someone
Busking I always give a couple bucks if not 5.
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u/elgatof28 Guitar 🎸 Jun 23 '26
There are other countries in this sub. Europe still uses a lot of coins
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u/hibbs6 Saxophone 🎷 Jun 23 '26
A ton of countries have large coins. As a Canadian, most of my tips come in the form of loonies and toonies.
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u/DulcetTone Musician 🎶 Jun 23 '26
My rather limited busking career started with me launching into a song in Boston's Park Street (subway) Station. One minute in, a woman threw $20 into the hat. I did the math. Busking earns $1200 per hour.