Task # 6 - Go Busking :s

I have never in my wildest of day dreaming ever imagined myself on the side of a street in the dead of a Canadian winter, in freezing temperatures, performing for money. I have no real talent that people would pay me for, so I have no clue how I plan to pull this one off. I'm finding these tasks where I rely on other people very challenging, and a tad on the humiliating side. I know people BUSK for a living, and make good money doing so, but knowing I need to pull off $89 in 89 minutes is gut wrenching.



I spent the majority of my morning trying to figure out what my talent could be, and how I could convince people I was somewhat good at it, all in good fun. I can't carry a tune, I'm not a good dancer, I do not play any instruments (man I sound awesome!!), so what's my deal going to be? Catherine was helping me brainstorm, and she came up with the fabulous idea to draw caricatures (for me, that means drawing stick men), and hope people would take pity on me in this extreme situation. BINGO, I think I could pull that one off, and maybe draw some bunny rabbits here and there for those animal lovers.



I figured if I did this thing on my lunch break, I'd be able to get a better audience. If I did it after work, people would just be rushing to go home and wouldn't give me the time of day, and what could be worse then singing and dancing on the side of the street for money? Doing it and not getting paid!!!! On my way out, a friend from work handed me a neon pink jump rope as a Plan B. Without really thinking it through I took it with me, a decision I would soon regret.

So its 12:00 pm at Elgin + Sparks Street - and it feels like its -30. My hands and feet are already tingling in pain and I haven't even started yet. My friend Jess made me a sign to wear so that people who listen to The New Hot 89-9 would be able to spot me, her brilliant plan worked, because the people started stopping and it was time to put on the show. Check out the humiliation @ http://www.thehottube.ca/contestdetails.asp?cid=71



I drew, I sang, and I even jumped rope 89 times. As humiliating as it felt, I actually had a good time. The people were way more generous then I could ever anticipate, maybe they felt my pain (considering the weather) and took pity on me. 50 minutes roll by and Kristen from the Hot Street Team lets me know she thinks I've hit the marker! We head over to the nearest Timmies to count our change and small bills....A whopping $147 in 50 minutes, holy cow, I think I'm in the wrong business!! We probably had more, but we took all the nickels, dimes and pennies and dropped it in the Timmies Kiddy Camp box.



I need to thank everyone who came out to support me yesterday, you all were absolutely amazing and you made this task less of a chore and more of an experience!!