YOUR JOB

About three years ago, I remember hearing a clever rhyming rap (complete with drumsticks and plastic flute accompaniment) from a homeless gentleman on the subway. He would go from car to car, repeating his rhyme, drumming and taking a flute solo every now and then, and collecting change from those who didn’t completely ignore him.

About a year and a half ago, I heard the same rhyme, the same rap from a homeless lady – only she did a little Casio keyboard break in the middle instead. Incredibly, I found myself not feeling bad for her (as I usually do) because she was down on her luck… instead I felt kind of offended that she stole that other guy’s schtick! I mean, it must be hard to come up with something original to do when begging for hand outs. It seems that everyone else has got something on the market cornered. There’s the Blind Accordion guy, the My House Burnt Down group (there are several of these), the I’m Not Selling This For No Basketball Team kids, the Drum Set Made Out Of 5 Gallon Buckets guys, the Bootleg DVD people… I thought that the Rapping Drum Sticks And Plastic Flute guy was pretty original. And here was this chick, just stealing his thing. AND she wasn’t even that good at it.

About a week ago, though, something kinda cool happened. I was on the A train coming home from work later than usual – and I heard the drumsticks. It was the guy, the guy I hadn’t heard in a long time, and he started to rap his clever rhyme:

We do not steal

We do not rob

But we wish like hell

We had your job

And then: Casio keyboard solo. I turned around and looked… and found they had teamed-up! They were making a duet out of the man’s song and they were a whole band between the two of them – percussion, piano, woodwinds. They were working together & seeming to get along.

I must say, I was impressed. I was bitter that the lady stole the guy’s idea. But the guy joined forces with her so they could work together, have some company, and split the profit. I gave them all the change I had in my purse (hey, there were quarters in there!). And a big toothy grin.