# fucking sad in every way of the word.



## alameda

I just found myself while I was down and out.
I have a story about all of it....so does everyone. Whatever. I want out. I've got 600 to pay on some hospital bill and that's one paycheck. That'll leave me with 200 or so dollars...if i work four more weeks i'll have close to 1100 dollars...then i want out....fucking bad. i already do...but i want to leave with at least something.
i've traveled before but in a van...never had to squat but wanting to or i don't really fucking care, i just need to leave asheville....
what the hell would you guys do? 
how is spange life these days? do you make anything these days? how's flying signs workin out? i just have a feeling it's not as easy as it used to be.


----------



## shasellette

im a girl, and i look young and am really small, and i made almost no money in portland 
but it depends on where you are and what time of the year, and if you have people taking the money from you like i did, a lot of people took the money that was meant for me


----------



## Mouse

portland was shitty for spanging for me too. I think it's just too saturated with kids most of the time. 



we are in a recession so life is tight for everyone


----------



## rootsong

getting train out of asheville isn't too bad. however, it depends on where you want to go. you can PM me for specific information, maybe we can e-mail or phone it. but trains in a month out of a-ville will be fuckin freezing too, so that's probably not what you want to do. get a greyhound or something, and as far as survival once you get where you're goin, well that depends on where that is too. south is warm, north is cold, some places have more work than others, etc. etc. where to, traveler?? i hear alot about austin, new orleans, s. cali, rainbow in n. florida for this time of year. what do you want to do?


----------



## bananathrash

shasellette said:


> im a girl, and i look young and am really small, and i made almost no money in portland
> but it depends on where you are and what time of the year, and if you have people taking the money from you like i did, a lot of people took the money that was meant for me


when i was in portland a few months ago i saw some girl ask for money for ice cream and a lady hand her 5 bucks. maybe you gotta ask for ice cream?


----------



## Raging Bird

hopped from asheville to knoxville this summer and met some of the greatest most generous people I've ever met. Hitchiked through the south in the summer. Me and the girl I was with felt guilty about getting so much money hitchiking and gave some away to actual homeless people (i.e. not bored white kid homeless people like ourselves). 

people would drive up and say "I'm really sorry i don't pick up hitchikers becuase of safety but here is 20 bucks". 

if you can go 1 on 1 with a member of the opposite sex, people think it is cute and hook it up spanging.

GOOD LUCK!!!


----------



## rideitlikeyoustoleit

I'm a fairly small girl, and I have never really made any money spanging except for once in Milwaukee with another girl. Other then that my luck is always bad. I've had better luck finding under the table odd jobs.


----------



## Clit Comander

spange is fine, you just have to be relentless. when i was in portland a few weeks ago we mabe enough to eat, drink, and smoke. sure it wasn't the best but it was enough. i seem to make more money fly'n signs on the highways. I have been making multiple $20 scores on the ramps, and during the holiday season people are more than happy to kick down. you'll be fine. stay south where its warm, it's gonna be a cold winter.


----------



## blackmatter

haah hell yeah i actually just go up to people ask em for change for a phone call sometimes they ask how much i need i say a buk i get a buck others empty there change into my hand sometimes im turned away butb this summer i made 30 bucks in chicago doin that not bad at all
or get some funny ass signs i know kids whove gotten 20 bucks when we were in bmore for that


----------



## Mouse

usually if you can have a pretty good attitude and sense of humor you can make money anywhere. nothing like telling people dirty jokes or just saying silly things to mak someone laugh and kick down. 

that's my stchick for the most part.


----------



## Mouse

usually if you can have a pretty good attitude and sense of humor you can make money anywhere. nothing like telling people dirty jokes or just saying silly things to mak someone laugh and kick down. 

that's my stchick for the most part.


----------



## kai

I walked around breathing fire for people as my spanging act and that worked out really well. I had a bag with my supplies, make 10 bucks, go get beer, drink beer, need more go out and breath more fire... Just pull something out of a bag of tricks that you can do that they can`t and people are like ooooooooooooooooooooh...insert the sound of money falling into a hat here.


----------



## macks

last time i was in portland i had a lady in the mall walk up to me and hand me five bucks. i wasn't even trying to spange or anything.. people act strangely on the holidays.


----------



## dirtyfacedan

Portland is a great city. So many damn bridges, train routes! The cool looking old buildings there must hold some good squats, places to explore. I know some folks who helped me get some awesome deals at an outdoor store there, and i was able to replace my super worn out winter body bag. Someone knew a photographer who was retiring his camera, and he pretty much gave me the thing. I liked a few neighborhood's like Belmont, and Hawthorne. It didn't have the encroaching feel of subway, and mcdonalds like my old neighborhhod of Commercial drive in Vancouver BC has. On the note of Hitching, as the thread states, i have always been fortunate. I was even once picked up by David Milgaard, a Canadian who was imprisoned most of his life for a murder he didn't do. Seeing his freedom....to see a lake, stop, and just jump in taught me something about my freedom. Hitching has always been good to me, and have always been able to pan a few clams, meet some great folks.


----------



## livesworthliving

little advice people don't take to kindly to kids spanging with pity . it is your choice to be out there so i recomend a talent and if you don't have one findit. could juggling, devlin sticks, drums, harmonica guitar,even some spoken word poetry that one allways gets them. let them know your just a free soul tring to get by.leave the sympathy act behind you cause pity will get you no where


----------



## Mouse

^^^ very fucking true.

I refuse to even beg for bus fare saying things like "hey man, I just need like 50 more cents to get on the bus, can you help?" FUUUUUCk that. I'll tell jokes or act a fool instead and not go the pitty route.


----------



## Antics

I seem to make good money wherever I go, in summer I can make for sure like atleast $100 in a few hours everyday busking.
not bad, ha my friends will be busking a bit up the way and they will only make like $20, people seem to like to give me money  
i cant play music in the winter though, so i just pan with funny signs, usually people read it and laugh then give me some sort of drop.
people like funny, and since yer choosing to be out there, dont be all mopey, be positive and make eye contact. People arent going to want to help you if you cant even look into thier eyes or start a conversation with them maybe. I never even ask for change I just sit or stand with a sign and say heelloo to people and ask how thier day is n such.


----------



## Clean

Just get an instrument, get enough for a half-pint of whiskey, drink get loose and play. You will make good money anywhere you go, especially in college towns. Flying a sign never fails anywhere you are. unless you see a homebum at every off-ramp.


----------



## macks

Every college campus I've busked by has been really shitty... my best luck so far (solo) has been on Clement St. in SF. I think going to places where the people aren't too stuck up that buskers don't usually go to is a good idea. On Haight in SF and Telegraph in Berkley I haven't made squat since there are already so many buskers/spangers there..


----------



## Mouse

yeah those spots are really blown up cuz all the kids dont' bother to walk any farther down the block than liek 10 ft. from each other. 

I found the castro to be pretty sweet money making. gay dudes are always friendly and generally in SF they are pretty well off.... and drunk by the end of the night.


----------



## Beegod Santana

The haight isn't really the best place to busk money wise, but it's definitely where I always have the most fun. If you have a duo going I've found you'll make lots more. One day I hadn't made anything in like 4 hours and then a little crusty girl joined me playing a drum and we made like $30 in an hour. Portland's always been good to me but now they have that sit / lie ordinance bullshit so downtown sucks if you don't have an instrument you can play standing up.


----------



## Clit Comander

walk down haight to market street and spange there.


----------



## Dameon

I think Portland is generally bad for spanging because #1: It's not a huge tourist spot. And #2: It has a high homeless population. I live in Seattle (when I'm living), and I think Seattle has lots of homeless. I was amazed last time I took a trip down to Portland and saw all the homeless there.

Really, you will ALWAYS do better if you're doing something more than spanging. Even if you're just dancing badly and singing way out of key, people look much more kindly on a traveler doing something to earn their money. You remember when you were little and walked door to door offering to mow lawns, and people would pay you WAY more than you were worth because you were willing to work? You can still do that! If you're healthy enough to be traveling, more than likely you're healthy enough to go door to door offering some service. Everybody's heard the story about the guy with the "will work for food" sign who gets offered a job and turns it down because he's not actually willing to work, and that's what a lot of them think of when they see spangers. When you show you're willing to work, rather than just looking for handouts, people will be more willing to open up.

And myself, I always feel better about money earned than money given without having earned it.

When I'm busking, I've had people try to give me money while I'm still setting up, and told them to keep their money because I prefer to feel like I've earned it. I've had people try to give me money when I'm just sitting at a bus stop playing to pass the time and told them to keep it because I'm just playing for myself. Obviously not a luxury you can afford when your wallet and your belly are empty.


----------



## Marco Polo

This is gonna look really ignorant/stupid, but what is flying a sign? Is it sitting there with a sign? Pretty cool. We don't get things like that in Cork, free souls etc, I know some pretty cool buskers, but that's it. We have pretentious hippies floating around, but I've never heard of spanging or flying signs...totally been brought up to live by the money, live by the money...


:crew:


----------



## finn

Flying a flag is showing a sign, so you pretty much have it right. Ireland is really big on busking from what I've seen, so I'm guessing that's why spanging hasn't taken a hold.


----------



## Marco Polo

finn said:


> Flying a flag is showing a sign, so you pretty much have it right. Ireland is really big on busking from what I've seen, so I'm guessing that's why spanging hasn't taken a hold.



Yeah loads of buskers, but not people trying to make a few quid holding a funny sign! People usually have an ignorant attitude towards it, that the person is a lazy bum etc. While it's not eactly getting out there and "earning", it still brightens up someone's day, should they choose to get the stick out of their ass....

So, is spanging another word for busking?


----------



## Dameon

Spanging is very different from busking. Spanging is walking around (or sitting in one place) asking "do you have any spare change?" Busking is sitting there, performing to entertain people without pressuring them to give you money. You can spange in entertaining ways, but that doesn't make it busking.

There's lots of festivals that are either focused on buskers, or at least allow them. In Seattle we have Folk Life, which has tons of buskers. The problem with busking festivals is that you don't make much unless you have some sort of exceptional act. When you're competing with dozens of other buskers, you have to really stand out in some way. Just being a really good musician doesn't cut it.

Oh, and one tip: I read back through the thread and saw somebody say you have to play standing up in Portland because of the sit/lie ordinance. Actually, if you're a street performer, you're exempt from the ordinance, so long as you don't play in one spot for more than an hour. Just a useful tidbit of information.


----------



## veggieguy12

What are trying to make money _for_? I get kinda hung-up on the whole notion of making money to buy shit you could just take in the first place. Even with citybus fares, most times in my experience, the drivers are not jerks, and will let you slide under-fare or even free if you go for their sympathies.
Of course, _some_ things just can't be had without cash - good luck!


----------



## BrokeWhiteBoy

veggieguy12 said:


> What are trying to make money _for_? I get kinda hung-up on the whole notion of making money to buy shit you could just take in the first place. Even with citybus fares, most times in my experience, the drivers are not jerks, and will let you slide under-fare or even free if you go for their sympathies.
> Of course, _some_ things just can't be had without cash - good luck!



Like cell phone (makes some stuff just easier), restaurant food, some gear replacements, and those fucking tickets you get in Clovis for smoking cigarettes in public parks (I shit you not).


----------



## DFA

I made 150 in orange county once, but that's orange county......
rich, dumb people everywhere.


----------

