This is a response to what others have said in this thread regarding leaving too much $ in your case and wearing sunglasses while performing. In my many years as a street performer and a performer at many other events both public and private, I've never found the wearing of sunglasses to hinder one's ability to connect to an audience. It's really about what each individual has to offer, and not whether you can see the whites of their eyes. Don't get me wrong, eyes can be very expressive in performance but it's only one aspect of a performance.

The comment that someone made about leaving too much $ in your case as being the cause of lost donations from listeners is just plain goofy. The only reason that I can imagine to fear leaving your donations visible in your case is if you fear being robbed or the wind is blowing too hard and you're losing more $ blowing down the stree than you're gaining. If that's the issue, then I'd suggest you're in the wrong neighborhood.

I've had money taken out of my case. It isn't a pleasant discovery to find that someone would stoop so low as to steal from a street performer, especially when they seem perfectly comfortable doing it, as if it was some kind of sport. I guess there are those who have a compulsion to thievery.

Allowing folks to see what you've been offered while performing may make some listeners shy about donating, as was suggested previously. There may be those that feel their offering is being given to someone who has already received enough. I think it can also be a measure of the success of the artist, and of how much folks have enjoyed what you've offered as a performer/entertainer. Seeing how much others have enjoyed your playing will cause some to pause to listen, because they want to see and hear in your performance what others have.