This has been a very fun thread to read, and after spending a lot of time reading so much negative crap below the line it has been really refreshing to actually read real stories and information and not backbiting and naysaying.

I love buskers, and have always wished I had ever had an opportunity to try it. I am sure I glamorize it in my mind and it is probably lots of very hard work with little pay but I still wish I had taken the opportunity to 1)busk 2)bartend 3) be a waiter when I was younger. I always try to support buskers and frequently buy their CDS if they have them. I think making music is a noble cause, however good or mediocre at it you are.

I was in Asheville NC a few months ago and there was a button box player working outside a cafe where my wife and I were having lunch. By the time the waiter had taken our orders, I looked up and he was talking to a passer by and next thing I knew he was gone. I had hoped to give him some money for his wonderful music, and when I saw him walking down the street a couple hours later I stopped him and gave him a five. He was most surprised when I told him I had enjoyed his music earlier and hadn't had a chance to do it before he had left.