Street performing pandemonium

You know, it’s well past my bedtime, but just two hours ago I came back home from street performing – and on second thought, tonight’s show was utterly bonkers. So much so that I have to write about it – because there’s simply no other way of moving on with my life after all that occured in that dreadful 70 minutes.

So, I finished my studying a few hours earlier than expected (that’s what locking in does to a guy), and decided that I would use the time that remained of today to street perform, for two reasons: 1) street performing is cool and punk as fuck, and 2) I ain’t got no money! My wallet was helplessly starving and I desperately needed to line it once again, even if with merely a €1 coin, or three. And so, I took my electric ukulele and adjacent equipment, boarded the bus, and made my way to downtown Thessaloniki – the land of all that is wonderful.

My first set was in Aristotelous Square, and concluded remarkably uneventfully – all I got was €0.50 and a group of teenagers mocking my performance style. Oh well. It is what it is.

But again, with exactly €0.31 in my bank account, I needed to work to make ends meet. So I packed up my things, and walked, walked, walked, before finally walking some more. By then, I’d found myself standing near the magnificent statue of Alexander the Great – a very popular attraction, look it up.

So I set up and started performing right then and there. Right off the bat, it was rather sweet – though the tips weren’t exactly flooding in, I had several pleasant interactions with really lovely strangers. People smiling at me, filming my performance (which they presumably deemed impressive, or at the very least “good enough”), some complimenting me on my playing, and even fewer of them striking up conversations with me. Mostly tourists – who are always the kindest of the bunch.

But well, in came the rowdy Greeks, and they were sure to make their presence known. A group of roughly 12 people (mostly grown adults) started off with a certified classic – the laughing at me, totally unprovoked. Hey, shit happens. But I did, indeed, start losing my cool, as soon as they made fun of my footwear of choice – my much beloved blue Crocs. Now, that is straight blasphemy, and it’s the sort of bullshit I absolutely refuse to put up with. And so I responded to their snarky remarks by staring at them blankly, while purposefully playing my song in an obscenely off-putting manner.

That was not enough for them to get the signal though, oh no. They kept going. By this time, they were forced to pick their modus operandi with regards to how they were going to harass me – otherwise, it was their time to leave. But of course they wouldn’t do that! They instead settled on what they would do. And it was going to turn out lucrative for me.

Well, to cut to the chase, what they did was throw money at me. That’s right people, real money. They didn’t attempt to rob me (as some fuck-ass folks tried to do the other day, when I was performing in Livadeia), they didn’t throw any valueless objects (i.e. trash) at me. They threw money at me.

But well, as would be expected of such people, their aim was shit. Most of it fell on the ground. It was rather tragic, actually. But I got paid! Granted, it was all 1, 2, or 5 cent coins. But still!

I collected all my rightfully acquired spare change off the ground, and used it to buy my grandma bread. She’ll be very happy, I’m sure.

As for actual money? I made about €8. Which is not much, but it is invaluable to me, considering how much I could use it at this moment of poverty that I am facing.

With that, I’m off to sleep.

Goodnight.