Busking etiquette, Cheltenham, and more rain.

Today I found myself back into Cheltenham for about 9.30am, whereupon at the prom busking spot I found another busker reaching it at the same time as me. I had a rather lovely chat with him (checking when he was planning on being there till, chattering about life etcetc with him, turning down free ciggies) and merrily offered to move on to the highstreet where there are benches and slightly more sun. I see no reason to squabble, or get stressed, or worry. At 9am, Cheltenham is big enough for us both, and I'm very patient and chilled out about the whole thing.





"Ooh, well, I get to play harp in the sun, it's OK if it's not a great spot"
"I'd enjoy playing too, if it wasn't my only means of income."

I guess I am quite lucky - I'm still thoroughly enjoying busking. People wait to talk to me, they're interested in my instrument, people thank me for playing. I don't feel like a nuisance - my instrument is unobtrusive, pleasant, my repertoire is large and varied and I'm a friendly person who likes talking to people. I know a lot of their joy in listening to me isn't due to me or my playing - it's entirely the clarsach. Especially this far south, very few people have seen a clarsach in real life, so, as they keep saying, it's a 'real treat'.
I also know I'm in a position of privilege - although I'm relying on busking to get me around places if  I do get in any genuine difficulty there are people I can call on. I'm not in a desperate situation. Hopefully, due to the novelty of the instrument I play, I won't ever really have to struggle to make money from playing it. Maybe I'd view it differently if this weren't the case.

After that I bumped into the homeless man I saw yesterday. We, again, had a nice chat and I passed on the money that some other homeless people gave me for busking yesterday. I felt so uncomfortable taking it, and so it feels much better to pass it back. The sense of community really touched me, yesterday as well. So much so, I don't really want to write about it - I couldn't do it justice anyway.

So, then came the choice of where to set up. I chose a slightly quieter area of the highstreet, as there was building work occurring in the busier bit. It didn't matter anyway, I earned as much as I did yesterday in my preferential spot. I need somewhere quieter, as the harp is quiet. I already have blisters. I'll show you my exciting blisters tomorrow, after more playing.

And then it rained.

Walking back to the village through the rain was wonderful. I also spoke to my husband on the phone. It was our one year wedding anniversary yesterday - and I spent that day totally ignoring him. Happy love-day, husband! For yesterday!

Oh right, I totally haven't even told him I'm writing this yet. What a nawty wife. I'll stick to harps, I think.










Earnt: £87 *
Spent: £10.40 (coffee with Alex was well worth it, though)
Remaining: £76.60
Time spent playing: 5.5 hours

*I'm refusing to say how much I gave the man. So, it's just been discounted from my 'earnings'.