Got the t-shirt, some flyers and the van to prove it, eh?
:yourock:

Yes to the t-shirts and flyers (with DumDum suckers attached), but sadly the van is gone. I donated it to The Christian Service Center (sans vinyl wrap) so they can use it to collect donations of clothes and food that they distribute to the poor and homeless.

They are on SW 24th and S. Robinson Ave. They are identical to a thrift store expect all their items are free. Many of the panhandlers go there for a change of clothes, food, etc. The number of working poor (or recently unemployed) who get services there is astonishing.

I don't think the ones who are artists in NYC are homeless. A lot of artsy kids go to NYC and that is part of the experience. Same deal with DC. People with the skill and discipline to do that sort of thing typically have it together, cognitively. By virtue of being part of a group of fellow artists and within a creative community they tend to be about 25 steps above your typical zany or junkie.

There used to be some panhandlers off the highway near Meridian. One summer I had to go by there in the afternoons and we went through a terrible hot spell. One had a dog (a pit, it looked like) whose tongue would drag the ground and pant so I used to drop off water for the poor thing every evening. Just hand out a waterbottle. They didn't even get that poor thing into the shade.

I've seen a few of these "art kids" hitting the streets the last few months here.

There are street musicians in Bricktown.
I've thought about taking my grand daughter and grand son and to a trio
thing. Violin, Guitar and bass.

There's been this one guitar player on the Spaghetti Warehouse corner who's
been there for years. He hasn't improved but he has fun. I always say hi on
the way to a gig.

I did a few gigs on the back of a water taxi. That was fun?

I found this interesting, but not surprising.

In a recent study, the Homeless Alliance found that only 20 percent of
panhandlers in Bricktown and downtown Oklahoma City are actually
homeless.

Homeless Camps Pop Up Across OKC Metro - Money News Story - KOCO (http://www.koco.com/money/19178901/detail.html?treets=okl&tid=26510767291813&tml=okl_7am&tmi=okl_7am_1_07000204152009&ts=H)
Oklahoma City (http://www.koco.com/money/19178901/detail.html?treets=okl&tid=26510767291813&tml=okl_7am&tmi=okl_7am_1_07000204152009&ts=H)

What ever happened to Hobos, vagabonds and tramps? When I was a kid
they were everywhere. These people were not homeless by any stretch of
the imagination. It was their way of life and they lived by their street
smarts.

How 'bout the mentally ill that wander the internet begging for attention pushing their heavy loads onto others backs in all their useless abstraction.

There are street musicians in Bricktown.
I've thought about taking my grand daughter and grand son and to a trio
thing. Violin, Guitar and bass.

There's been this one guitar player on the Spaghetti Warehouse corner who's
been there for years. He hasn't improved but he has fun. I always say hi on
the way to a gig.

I did a few gigs on the back of a water taxi. That was fun?

Is performing on the street for tips the same as panhandling? I don't think so. That's not the way it was taught at Panhandle A & M.

Is performing on the street for tips the same as panhandling? I don't think so.
That's not the way it was taught at Panhandle A & M.

I don't think panhandlers provide anything in return for the money they get.

I've never seen a crowd gather to watch people give them money :LolLolLol

I don't think panhandlers provide anything in return for the money they get.

I've never seen a crowd gather to watch people give them money :LolLolLol

Wouldn't the vehicles stopped at the lights off the highways count as crowd gathering?

:LolLolLol

Wouldn't the vehicles stopped at the lights off the highways count as crowd gathering?

:LolLolLol

I think they call that a captive audience.

I'm with it ..street performing is a hard dollar earned. Similar to dealing illegal drugs, dangerous,taboo market functions that nevertheless require people to do them to serve the demand.. Like the Dalits down in Calcuttan sewers cleaning clogs. So the Panhandlers need to up their sorrowful face game. I have had a life of my own and I recognize game when I see it. Comedy routines or something, balance the feeling of the exchange. In a naturally occuring organic economic exchange both parties should come away feeling fulfilled and satified with the business transacted. Value for Value which is a fickle and sensitive thing.

"Captive audience" That is what it is.