Small Change at Woodbine

Today at Woodbine, people donated quarters and smaller change. By the end of my two-hour shift, there was only one loonie in my case, along with the Mexican coin that looks like a toonie that someone gave me and which I now use to "sweeten the pot".

At one point, I considered scooping out lots of quarters and replacing them with loonies, in an effort to influence the average donation. But then I realized that people aren’t actually looking into my case before they decide what to give. They’ve already decided what to throw in before they get there, based on what’s in their pockets.

For whatever reason (first day of December? end of the week?) the available cash seemed to be much slimmer. Also, many people today were calling out jovial encouragement instead of giving change. "Great voice, by the way!" and "Nice music!". One couple surprised me by throwing in some change while I was taking a break and tuning my guitar. (It always surprises me when people donate something when I’m not actually playing.) "We’ve seen you before!" they called out happily, as if that alone was worth something.

One woman stopped and very deliberately put three cents into my case.

Another man donated a quarter, saying earnestly "Everyone has to eat, you know?". I thanked him and realized that this was the first time anyone had mistaken me for a homeless person, and that I felt neither ashamed nor apologetic to accept his quarter.

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As I played this afternoon, I saw two (separate) elderly people who were having so much difficulty getting around, I was worried that I would witness a catastrophic fall down the subway stairs and that I would be called upon to provide emergency first aid.

As I watched them precariously balance, one step at a time, I wondered if I should stop playing and offer to help them, or at least call out to see if they needed assistance, but I concluded that if I did, they’d probably be startled and indeed fall down the stairs, so I kept on playing.

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As I had promised myself, I played my two new songs--the ones I hadn't been sure enough about to put into "official" performances. As it turned out, each of them elicited the strongest responses I received in the entire afternoon. Why was that, I wondered? After all, my other songs got strong reaction on other days. But today, the songs that I needed to "try out"—to see if they were "good enough"—were the ones that were noticed.

Maybe it was something in the urgency or the newness of my performance? I figured that was possible, remembering that my producer David likes to record songs when they’re brand new and therefore fresh and spontaneous. They’re usually full of mistakes too and ultimately we have to re-record them…but , hey, we've got that fresh and spontaneous version too!

"In Good Time" caused another middle-aged man to stop and consider buying a CD (even though, as I told him, this new song wouldn’t be on it). Reluctantly, he admitted he couldn’t afford it. I sensed that giving it to him outright would be awkward, so I gave him my business card instead.

"Creature of Habit" caused a good-looking musician in his thirties to take notice. (He had to be a musician judging from his high-quality performer duds: leather jacket, cowboy boots and nicely-styled long hair. He might even belong to the--gasp--Commercial Music Industry.) Anyway, he stopped at the top of the subway stairs, came over to make a donation and then hesitated again as he was heading for the exits as if he wanted to come back and speak to me. He seemed to think better of it. (Might he be late for lucrative studio session or glamourous photo shoot? Or did he just hear me play the wrong chord?)