Dear kids...

[bip]

fuck that dude. i may be a traveling homeless person but im not a fucking bum. fuck, man your not quadrapeligic. i fucking hate begging. why would you want to go on the road if you just want to sit in front of places with a sign that says "please help". its like youve traded monotony for monotony. it doesnt make any fucking sense unless you are physically incapable of doing anything else.

 

[thisisme]

Dameon, I too have made the same distinction between spanging and busking in the past, I also busked before I ever traveled and one point in my life was a professional musician, as in I paid for an apartment, drugs and food with the money I made giging. All I have to say is that no matter how you look at it, busking is still a form of begging, ESPECIALLY if you're expecting to get paid for it. I'm a musician because I love the art of instrumentation and the positive effect I can have on people through the use of that art. When you see me busking its not only because I want money, but because I LOVE playing music and will continue to do so till the day I die. If you find it draining, its because you expected to be rewarded in a monetary way for your efforts and didn't feel you where justly compensated. Busking is like one long audition, that you sometimes get paid for. No one asked you to come out and play, your hoping to prove to people that you are worthy of compensation, your still spanging people, just in a classier way.

aside from this i agreed with just about everything youve said. As far as spanging/ busking vs. working goes, it is all distribution and exchange of money whether it be given to you by your boss/workplace or a kind person on the street youre still in the end relying on someone else to give you that cash. Thats the way the system works. On another note, whos to say people who busk arent musicians? thats ridiculous. i dont know anyone who plays music on the streets just to make money without enjoying the art of it. youre sounding a bit pretentious in that regard. whether your playing on a stage in some bar or on a sidewalk, its the same damn thing. One could say youre still busking people, just in a classier way.

 

[beat_tramp]

Yeah Ive been bitching lately about the dirty kid trend idiocy of actually people convincing themslves that they are superior to others because of how much they look and smell like a butthole.Since when does being a respectable tramp mean that you completely conform to some oxymoronical subculture..Dont get me wrong though I aint prejudice against anyone but that shit has been wearing on my fuckin nerves for a while...I was gonna say something about Beegod Santana being to harsh and promoting too much self-condemnation but alot of these arrogant,ego-maniac butthole smellin motherfuckers actually reall need to hear all that.

 

[Missy]

Blah, blah, blah. Busking is kind of work, easy work. Hot tar roofing in July, that is real work. If you think flying a sign and playing music is real work then its pretty clear to me that you have never worked hard in your life.

Growing up in the country even the girls in the family were busting ass at 4:30am daily.

 

[acrata4ever]

busking is not "work," work is busting your ass.

hmmm the rolling stones travel and busk in sold out arenas i guess theyre bums. politicians dont dig ditches either.
seems like someone is a failed musician. is drawing portraits and selling ink drawings and watercolors not work as well? hmm andy warhol was a bum he even got actual bums to do his work for him. failed musicians usually become poets have you tried that? i dont think poetry has been outsourced yet. poets also have the highest rate of suicide per capita. yeah try poetry maybe your poetry will be a shining beacon of hope for all the hardworking unemployed fatties too lazy to clean the 4 wheel lawn ornaments off their lawns.

 

[shwillyhaaa]

i have a few things to say:
1. "WWOOF" seriously.
2. busking is a job and in my opinion adds character to any place you go, and who doesnt love that?
3. i agree with everything in this post besides the small comment on busking.. which was probably just an unfair and unintentional generalization

 

[meathook]

1. "WWOOF" seriously.

WWOOFing is the shit! i did that last summer and would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to travel for cheap and learn some really valuable skills.

 

[saje2u]

I mainly got a problem with a person that appears to obviously need there money more giving it to me rather than some well to do person, dressed well, driving a 40,000$ luxury auto.
Pisses me off when I have to see that - a ethnic mother of 5 with rainbow grocery bags in a smoking 88 honda accord with temp tags gives me her "last ten" and the guy behind her in the mercedes S class laughs at you and speeds off.
Fuck those people!
Makes me wanna murder the rich just for the sport.

 

[JackieBlue]

excellent post! as far as spanging and buskin go tho....both take courage and charisma.......who are we to say what that is "worth" as far as "work" value? does a ceo do that much "work" for his millions of billions of dollars?.............bottom line ALWAYS SHARE the proceeds.

 

[Kim Chee]

SHARE BITCH!! Like I said earlier, that money doesn't belong to you. If you got something for nothing, fucking share it with other people who have nothing. Some of the most generous people I've met where also straight up junkies. Few things piss me off more than someone banking with a sign who then hoard it for themselves as if they earned it legitly. Don't worry, what comes around goes around, I'm living proof.

I agree wholeheartedly with what you are saying except for this^.

I like to share, but I do have limits. I'm not going to continually
share mine with a person who sat around all day drinking, getting
high, being pathetic, fucking oogin' out and expecting a handout
from me when I get in unless they are somehow contributing.
I'm too poor to be running the gravy train and I'm certainly not
anybody's momma.

**Oh, and if anybody disagrees with me, please feel free to PM me
your address as I would like to hang out with you forfuckingever.

 

[Blackout Beetle]

I like being a traveling homebum, oxymoron though it may be. Why just drop into a town or city for two days and take off before you can even know shit about the place or anyone there? I mean there are limits of course you don't wanna kick it around somewhere forever blowing it up but if I get to a place I like I have no problem staying for a few weeks, even a month. It was so hard to pry me away from Ashland because I fell in love with the town and the kids so fuckin much!! For me the joy of traveling is experiencing shitloads of different places and getting drunk with as many down ass kids as I possibly can. I strongly disagree with the busking comment me and a lot of my friends are buskers and that shit takes balls, and some degree of talent. I fly signs and in my opinion its not like blasphemously immoral like youre making it out to be. Nobody's being forced to give you anything, an individual can decide whether not they want to kick you down or tell you to fuck off its all free will. But yes it should always be approached with graciousness and humility. I agree with being honest about how long you've traveled, its not like we cant tell who's full of shit anyway =P But some motherfuckers do rip on new kids call them oogles and shit I'm not really for that. Why judge someone by how long theyve been traveling if they're down individuals? Sharing, yes, has limits. I will always get someone well if they need it but I'm not gonna get random people drunk with whatever money's in my pocket all the time, hell no. I've been honest of my opinions as a fellow traveler, I hope I'm not gonna attract a lot of hate from my post lol. Take it with a grain of salt.

 

[Cardboard]

Spanging and busking are immensely different, I dont understand how so many people are putting them into the same category here. Entertainment has been a demand of people for a hell of a long time, and busking is providing entertainment, culture, life to a city... Burn out beggars are not. At least not a positive cool culture that people can appreciate. I totally agree that people dont owe you shit, but busking is a job, for sure. Begging can be fun, but your are not contributing anything.

 

[wildboy860]

sounding kind of elitist there brother bear.

if you met me you would think the opposite. im not one of those elitist assholes.

 

[Aurelius]

When I play guitar for days on end and my callouses bust open with blood dripping down my arm its because I busted my ass. I was fortunate enough to learn how to read sheet music, and I've spent plenty of time and thought into what I'm learning. It certainly feels like work to me. I'm working my mind, my hands, my soul. After starving for days, hungover and tired with kinks in your back, its takes a lot to get that smile on your face and sing Here Comes The Sun or some other upbeat tune loud enough to be heard over everything for hours and hours. Then someone yells "get a job you bum!", then the cops roll you, and the majority of the populace pretends you're invisible because you're a grimy squatter. And the fucked up part is that the people who crack spange end up making MORE right in front of you just because they're getting in everyone's face. And through all of that you still have to try to make it sound happy and good for a long time so you actually get something at the end of the day. Its NOT easy.

 

[travelin]

Hey, I'm one of those persons in the older car that hands a buck out the window.

Always on the lookout for traveling people.

People I see on the same intersection in a city every day do not get the same consideration from me.

Deming new mexico. i had to go to walmart to have money wired to me after a disasterous blowout that caused a shitload of damage on my new (to me) motorhome.

I was taking it to phoenix from where i bought it in Texas. wife and i both had jobs and this was a weekend fly-to-houston-and-instantly-hellbound-for-phoenix type of affair.

Group of kids with signs saying things like, "traveling and broke" "need gas money please". there seemed to be about six of them in walmart parking lot. a couple of them had a guitar out and were playing and singing. im not sure but i think i identified an old ford van they were traveling in.

They were cheerful and upbeat and they got a little piece of the money i had just borrowed and had sent to me.

I dont owe you anything, least of all the money in my pocket.

I choose to give others money, gear, food because I want to, not because I owe anyone anything.

Thought id put in a blurb from the other side of the sign.

 

[Beegod Santana]

Wow... this thread's still going. After almost a year after writing this, I still feel pretty much the same. When you live a lifestyle that's dependent on the kindness of others (spanging, busking, whatever the fuck) a little respect and humility go a long way. I love how my suggestion that you should spread the love a little when lady luck shines on you got such a reaction outta so many people. At no point did I say give it all away or give it to people you hate. I just said spread the wealth a little, sheesh.

 

[Aurelius]

I was commenting on your ideas of busking/spanging. My job ends next week, and while I've had it I always kicked down what I can, even if I know its just a homebum trying to get their drink on. But I've got to tell ya, a lot of the people kicking down those bills aren't really doing much either. They're sitting in offices in front of computers, playing solitaire and checking out forums(ahem), and generally not using their full physical potential. I mean just look around! Half of these people are fat, sluggish yuppies. I've got to say road life is way more taxing, it in itself is harder work than anything these people will experience with their AC/heaters, televisions and SUVs. I'd like to think some know it, and those are generally the ones who give. The ones who don't or the ones who give you shit are the ones that are pissed off at their own meaningless existence. Busking/spanging is way harder than what I'm doing now, but I feel like its more rewarding. Well, at least busking is. Sure it pays less, but its never been about the money. Like a friend of mine says, money is just a stupid peice of paper that gets in the way of what I want

 

[tyler harmon]

As for countries like Mexico where you don't see as much homelessness, that doesn't mean that people in the US have it so easy that everything is just handed to them. I think the average life span for homeless (not "summer camping") women in this country is about 35? I heard that statistic somewhere and it seems about right just based on the sheer number of my friends who've passed away/gotten cancers/Hep C/whatever else in their 20s and early 30s. Part of the implication in this rant seems to be that if you're asking for money here it's because you're either lazy or so unethical that you just don't want to work. Well, in some ways people in Mexico actually have it easier because their concept of extended family is so strong that most wouldn't even think about letting a relative sleep on the streets. .

we could start with me for example. i was kicked out on the streets when i was ten. i was a homebum till i was 17. then i saw a group of travelers come through and i was like HEY! this has got to be better than being a homebum and not doing nothing. i asked to join them and i got denied. the second set of travelers that came through that i saw said we'll teach you, but theres no promises we won't teach you how to live and survive like this and leave you in the middle of no-where. and thats what they did. but i'm, greatful for that. try getting a job with no GED, high school diploma, ID, or birth certificate. its damn impossible. so then started my travels. this is my story and this is why i do what i do.

i remain respectful though. and i actually REFUSE to get drunk while flying a sign or spanging.

 

[Dead horse]

Good stuff

 

[shiftingGEARS]

Good stuff

spangeing is boaring id rather swing some hammers.... murdering a grisly bear with your bare hands, now thats a rough job.