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Music Busking: Drunk Guys/Girls Dipping In To Tip Jar and Taking Money
09-23-2014, 12:38 AM
Pretty much what the title says.
Every now and then when I'm out busking I get a drunk guy or girl walk by, grab a handful of dollars out of my tip jar, and go along their way. Usually they smirk and intentionally let me see, some kind of drunk dumbass challenge.
Other buskers I've talked to say it's a pretty common problem, especially when playing bar scenes.
The knee-jerk reaction is to physically take it back, but there are some complications:
1) For me, I play on the same corner(s) every time I go out to busk. Getting in a fight over a couple dollars when someone *knows* where I'll be next time doesn't seem too wise.
2) Having my gear (~a couple hundred worth of stuff) keeps me from getting involved...no use giving up my instrument/equipment to chase down someone. It could be lost/broken/stolen in the resulting snafu and it'd be a lot worse than losing a few bucks
At the same time, their actions are completely unacceptable.
What recourse can you take when someone outright steals from you?
What would you guys do...considering you can't leave the music gear sitting there and they (more than likely) know where to find you...
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Music Busking: Drunk Guys/Girls Dipping In To Tip Jar and Taking Money
09-23-2014, 12:45 AM
Why not get a tip jar with a smaller opening so they can't dip their thieving little hands into it?
Some people just have no class or respect so there's not much you can do unfortunately aside from beating them down with a hammer.
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Music Busking: Drunk Guys/Girls Dipping In To Tip Jar and Taking Money
09-23-2014, 01:07 AM
How about emptying it every couple of hours.
But seriously, drunk or not, who does stupid shit like that? What delusional person thinks that is ok?
Any assholes on here do it before?
Slight tangent, but drink stealing? How about just making some more money.
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Music Busking: Drunk Guys/Girls Dipping In To Tip Jar and Taking Money
09-23-2014, 01:13 AM
The jar is a good idea.
Also having big violent friends waiting outside the venue. Or bouncers.
But I like seeing the guilty get punished. Clear tip jar is probably best.
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Music Busking: Drunk Guys/Girls Dipping In To Tip Jar and Taking Money
09-23-2014, 01:33 AM
Slightly veering off topic but:
- Do you ever get a chance to game while busking?
- Would you be able to bust out a data sheet on busking?
Busking seems like a great way to force oneself out of one's comfort zone.
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Music Busking: Drunk Guys/Girls Dipping In To Tip Jar and Taking Money
09-23-2014, 02:19 AM
Write a song to make fun of them and sing it when it happens.
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Music Busking: Drunk Guys/Girls Dipping In To Tip Jar and Taking Money
09-23-2014, 05:47 AM
I've never had someone try to steal money when I was busking. Some guy did threaten to cut off my hands if I didn't come to his studio to record some grime tracks though... so there's that.
Ideally you don't want too much money in your box/case at any time. Not only does it encourage people to steal; the public are less giving once they see you have a lot of money already. Perversely though, they are even less giving if there's no money on display. Chalk it up to herd behaviour or whatever ("well nobody else is giving him money"), but it pays to seed the case with a handful of various denominations of coin when you start up, then empty the takings into something more secure every forty minutes or so.
Another thing - personally, I never let paper money sit in the case to begin with. If someone gives a note of any kind, it comes straight out of the box and into my pocket. This might be more of a pain for you, being in America, as you have $1 bills; in the UK, the smallest paper denomination is a £5 note, so maybe just empty $5 and above?
Source: several years of busking.
Oh, what kind of area are you busking for this to happen regularly, OP? That also might be the problem...
Quote: (02-26-2015 01:57 PM)delicioustacos Wrote:
They were given immense wealth, great authority, and strong clans at their backs.
AND THEY USE IT TO SHIT ON WHORES!
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Music Busking: Drunk Guys/Girls Dipping In To Tip Jar and Taking Money
09-23-2014, 07:14 AM
Have a cheap camera with a flash (do those cheap, disposable film cameras still exist?) hidden away next to you but readily available. When they grab some of your dough, whip it out and say, "Say cheese!" and take their picture with the flash. It probably won't get your money back, but it might keep them from ever doing it again to you or someone else.
Another way is to stand a moderately sized mirror behind the tip jar. People often can't do something anti-social if they see themselves doing it. That's why some businesses which deal with moody customers, like car rental agencies, often put mirrors on the wall behind the counter. People are less likely to behave badly when they're looking at themselves. It shouldn't stop people from giving you money, because they will enjoy seeing themselves doing something nice.
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Music Busking: Drunk Guys/Girls Dipping In To Tip Jar and Taking Money
09-23-2014, 07:33 AM
I used to do alot of busking in Canada, anyway.. other magicians would tell me about sh1t like this and the solution is simple call the police.
It's technically theft, drunk or not.
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Music Busking: Drunk Guys/Girls Dipping In To Tip Jar and Taking Money
09-23-2014, 07:34 AM
I absolutely empty the jar/guitar case when it gets overflowing, but there's one thing that makes me hesitate.
As most people said, if the case if full of money ($20+ in singles) you get A LOT more people putting money in. It's a waterfall social proof effect once you hit a certain threshold.
Same if you have a $10 bill somewhere in the case. People go "oh shit, he must be good if someone dropped a ten"
I do seed the case with a few singles and a five every time I play. Truely essential
I've also tried the case w the slit in it, but it's a 'hassle' to drunk people. You can't just walk by and painlessly toss in money...you have to stop, pull out dough, and stuff it into the opening...small effort but I think it deters some folks.
My best tip jar is my guitar case because the pure size of it allows me to 'show off' how much I made which in turn makes people donate a ton more...the trade off being that some people dip in. Overall net positive though, by far.
I've had local bouncers/drug dealers see guys dip into my case and beat some sense into them. Street pride/honor is a very real thing among respected hustlers. Even cops keep an eye on my setup/situation. I normally wouldn't have anything to do with police, but they claim that the music keeps people happy/out of fights on my corner so they go out of their way to be nice. Overall people are cool
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Music Busking: Drunk Guys/Girls Dipping In To Tip Jar and Taking Money
09-24-2014, 03:34 AM
Get a bb gun haha, shoot them in the ass
On a serious note, the fake money is a good idea, empty your jar, put the fake bills in
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Music Busking: Drunk Guys/Girls Dipping In To Tip Jar and Taking Money
09-25-2014, 06:08 PM
Wouldn't use fake bills. Counterfeiting is something all countries take extremely and absurdly seriously.
Empty the tin for big notes once in a while seems the best idea. Consider the small losses as cost of doing business.