Diary Of A Busker Day 211 Sunday March 18th 2012 Winchester High Street Opposite Vodafone, Time: 4:58-6:05pm
A last minute decision to do an hour or, if it’s going well, an hour and a half. There aren’t many about, though – it’s Mother’s Day and I suspect many people have got their mothers down for a meal at home. It soon gets quite cold, although the sun was out when I started. I see five young men approaching from my left. They’re still far off but I can see there’s something weird about their faces. As they get nearer I can see they’ve all got their faces painted as animals like what 6 year olds do at parties. The one in front is a tiger. He’s very short and wears red trousers and I don’t know what it is but I despise this lot already, especially tigerman. Even so, I need money and I smile at everyone, always. Maybe tigerman read my mind, as when they pass, he puts his hand over the top of my bucket and releases some imaginary change. ‘Ha Ha!’ he says as they walk off, looking at his mates for approval, as if he thinks he’s the first person ever to play that trick. ‘Yeah, that was really funny!’ I shout down the road. Fortunately they didn’t hear!
After an hour in the cold, I can’t feel my right thumb. That plastic thumbpick cuts off a lot of circulation, anyway, and when you combine that with the cold…so I’m going to call it a day…and there is no one heading my way in either direction, just a few disappearing in the distance. But £6.51 for an hour isn’t too bad when there’s hardly anyone about.
Earnings: £6.51
