Were these guys worth ten bucks?

The guys in this picture are:
     A. Working for a living.
     B. Looking for handouts.

The guys in this picture are:
     A. Entrepreneurs starting their own business
     B. Beggars

The guys in this picture are:
     A. Prime examples of a real work ethic
     B. Disturbing the peace.

I’d say, ‘take your pick,’ but you already did that, didn’t you? We have a complicated and frequently contradictory view of people who literally take their retail business to the street. Some of us pay them to entertain us, some give them a charitable contribution, and most of us pass by with anger or embarrassment or some other emotional response. Pretty much nobody will congratulate them for pursuing the American Dream, but maybe we’re missing something here.

While I was enjoying a summer day on a bike ride, these guys were taking turns entertaining the motorists at Six Corners in Chicago. Okay, they were mostly using plastic pails as drums and not everyone was entertained, but that’s no different from any bit of street art. Some of us like it and pay for the show and some of us hate it and offer no reward, but the performers give it their all either way.

That makes their job the same as a restaurant server or a porter or a valet, doing the work with no idea whether a tip is in the offing. Capitalism is a tough town.

There’s a performing group at Walt Disney World that does essentially the same thing as my new friends on Cicero Avenue. The Disney World team has a longer performance with more people, more props and—sorry, guys—much more talent, but both groups seek to entertain us by attacking garbage cans with sticks.

Maybe one of the guys in this photo will be in Orlando one day and get discovered, earning his way to a bright musical career and some great reminiscences about his humble beginnings. Probably not, but we never know. Every super hero has an origin story and my weekend entertainment was undoubtedly part of theirs.

Sometimes, the people asking for money on the street aren’t offering anything tangible in return, although I do get the positive feeling that I’ve done something charitable, possibly heroic, when I give them a dollar. Here’s a mom with a baby, sitting on the sidewalk, looking for money to put food on the table, and I know all the reasons I shouldn’t part with my money. She might be a scammer, it might not be her kid, and giving her money only encourages her to keep begging and never get a job… Still, she’s having a worse day than I am by any measurement available and I’ll take the risk that she’s secretly a billionaire asking me to make her even richer.

The choice is easier with a street performer or a migrant mom selling water or candy outside the grocery store. Now it’s a more physical transaction, an offer of a product or a service in return for payment. As a true capitalist, I can’t help but applaud the entrepreneurial spirit, even if I don’t happen to need any more Skittles. Every sale they make, or don’t, is part of their origin story and I’m helping them to craft it either way.

Someday, maybe a couple of decades from now, my street-side drummers will be talking about our interaction on their podcast, recalling the guy who gave them ten bucks and the encouragement to continue striving for their art. Today, though, I spent $10 to get a blog idea, and that’s an investment I’ll make any day of the week.

Next week, we're taking a look at what's really newsworthy and a way to avoid a whole ton of conversation, and people who subscribe here will love it the most.

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