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Yes! In the ShopRite strip mall, near Wendy’s. I drove by and didn’t stop to listen or look, just gave some money and left.
Do you think it was part of the same, I don’t want to call is a scam… scheme? Seems very similar, sign and fiddle look about the same in my recollection.
I saw either the same guy or someone else over at Crossgates too...remember thinking it was super sad (and not uncommon) for a "decent" musician to be out of work...especially these days. After seeing this, I'm guessing that, yeah, it was probably part of the same scam. I doubt the baby was fake.
Things are rough at the moment for a lot of folks (so no judgements on my part)...and if this were a scene in a movie, the guy would be played by George Clooney and we'd be rooting for him.
Others may be fake. I purchased mine directly from Antonio Stradivari and he gave me a great deal. Nice guy.
The story goes that Amati, Guarneri, and Stradivari's shops were all on the same block in Cremona.
Amati's shop had a sign in the window: We make the best violins in Italy!
Guarneri's shop had a sign in the window: We make the best violins in the world!
Stradivari's shop had a sign in the window: We make the best violins on the block.
A pair of really interesting discussion here.
1.
As for the fake buskers, it's not cool, but I think There are folks in Texas with allot more money and power doing much shadier stuff so I'm not going to get worked up about it. Definitely not giving a penny to a fake musician though. You need a better hustle to part me from my $. However, if there were two or more fake musicians with choreography, I might contribute...
2.
As for the discussion of panhandlers and offering the actual food and services they've requested money for, I've had varied experiences. Some folks reject the offer and push for cash. Those folks generally get nothing from me. Some are happy to accept a meal or some groceries or a ride or for you to put some gas in their car. Once in a while I'll give $ but if you can slow down and meet the actual need you can often help folks just a little.
I lived for 15 years in the hood and I learned that people often misbehave but often the need is real. People don't always go about meeting their needs in the right ways or necessarily accurately represent those needs. Needs are often compounded or twisted up in addiction, mental illness, lack of education, abuse and often a criminal record that renders someone nearly unemployable. Programs exist, but there's still alot of need unmet by Govt and philanthropy.
All this to say, it's dirty, messy and complicated and pat answers, pet theories, or an 8 word sign held by a homeless person can rarely accurately and completely describe a situation.
1.
As for the fake buskers, it's not cool, but I think There are folks in Texas with allot more money and power doing much shadier stuff so I'm not going to get worked up about it. Definitely not giving a penny to a fake musician though. You need a better hustle to part me from my $. However, if there were two or more fake musicians with choreography, I might contribute...
2.
As for the discussion of panhandlers and offering the actual food and services they've requested money for, I've had varied experiences. Some folks reject the offer and push for cash. Those folks generally get nothing from me. Some are happy to accept a meal or some groceries or a ride or for you to put some gas in their car. Once in a while I'll give $ but if you can slow down and meet the actual need you can often help folks just a little.
I lived for 15 years in the hood and I learned that people often misbehave but often the need is real. People don't always go about meeting their needs in the right ways or necessarily accurately represent those needs. Needs are often compounded or twisted up in addiction, mental illness, lack of education, abuse and often a criminal record that renders someone nearly unemployable. Programs exist, but there's still alot of need unmet by Govt and philanthropy.
All this to say, it's dirty, messy and complicated and pat answers, pet theories, or an 8 word sign held by a homeless person can rarely accurately and completely describe a situation.
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I've seen a young woman doing this outside a Target store. Had a sign that said she had young children- please help.
For some reason we don’t get buskers this time of year in northern Wisconsin…fake or legit.
Yeah, back in high school I had a friend that had a "Stradivarius". Said so, right on the label. We called it the "Stradivarius Oklahomus".
I wonder if that is the same "family" I saw in the parking lot at the Waltham Market Basket.
Spotted another electric violinist in a grocery store parking lot over the weekend. They were playing out of sync with the music. Then the person standing with them skipped to the next track while they were still miming along to the previous song. By the time I came out of the store they were gone.
An amusing aside is that they used to put the same "Stradivarius" sticker on basses, even though Stradivarius never made a bass.
