"I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
- Michael JordanNOTE: This was originally posted on my Tumblr (agentarmando.tumblr.com)
I was headed home with my friend Jonathan after watching Jesus Christ Superstar off Broadway (I’d rate it 6.5/10: Good). We hop on the E train headed back to Queens when lo and behold, a street performer comes along sure to be soliciting money. Big surprise, right?
Now this guy’s gag was apparently doing magic tricks. I saw this guy and figured “What else is new?” I mean, you live in New York City long enough, nothing surprises you anymore. I basically blew it off at first because I figured the man was just performing for money. The man didn’t even look that presentable. He was somewhat unkept and his clothes had that used, beaten-up look. Yup, he fits the street performer bill all right.
Either way, I was enjoying my friend’s company, so we started talking. From the corner of my eye, I saw the guy doing his magic act in the midst of a fairly cold reception. Any savvy New Yorker knows what his hustle is, so it was expected. In spite of people basically giving him the cold shoulder, he really didn’t lose his smile. He kept on “cheering on the crowd” and he just continued his magic act like if nothing was happening. Just like how a professional comedian does his set, he just trudges on in spite of crowd reaction. So he keeps doing his tricks, but for the ones later, he needs “volunteers.” He picks random people out from the “audience” (regular NYC straphangers). At first, I can see that they’re hesitant, but the guy keeps at it. He keeps smiling, never lets up with his positive energy, and I see one by one, people start giving in. They actually help him do his act. At first, they’re like “WTF” but then, you can tell that they settle down and start to have fun, just like the magician was. This was all happening while I was still talking to my friend.
Again, I continue to peek from the corner of my eye while I’m talking because I didn’t want to be “picked out.” Then, he spots me peeking and calls on me to help him out for his next trick. I was like “Oh, S*@#!” I probably would’ve said no to him, but I could see there was no shaking this guy. That and I saw how he was winning the crowd over bit by bit, so I caved. It was a silly card trick, and my friend helped out too by cutting the cards. I have to admit, the guy made the trick fun and amusing, so I genuinely started to warm up to him and played along. The thing that made it seem fun was that he seemed like he was having fun and he never stopped showing his positive attitude, and like they say, enthusiasm is contagious. By the end of his act, I was smiling and laughing and apparently, the whole crowd was too. When he started to collect money from people, I literally said “he sold me.” My friend gave him something too.
When he was receiving money, he started to say to everyone how he did this for a living. It showed. Not to say there’s anything wrong with that, but he did look like a “pro” out there. The guy racked up! I’d say half the people in that subway car gave him money. Considering normal giveouts, I’d say that was very impressive. And you know what? He earned it. If you put what he probably got in that one act, his hourly rate would figure to be around $30/hour, which of course is very good. In fact, check these links out that apparently corroborates what I saw that day (links: http://www.asylum.com/2008/10/03/panhandlers-make-more-than-the-average-worker/ and http://www.savingadvice.com/articles/2010/09/08/106493_panhandle-strange-ways-to-make-money.html).
I’m not one to disapprove of this. I always respect people who work to earn an honest dollar. We all have different ways of doing so. The ways to do one thing are virtually infinite (Rule #3: There are no rules, especially when you figure out why they exist). There’s no fixed set of rules (everything you know is wrong). You need to open your mind up to the possibilities in order to get the most out of life. If all it takes is to just be persevering while doing your act, I’m not one to say it’s wrong. It’s a profession just like anything else. It may not be your typical 9-5 job, but make no mistake, it takes work. Especially with doing this for a living, you need to really be mentally strong. Rejection is normally not easy to take, let alone when you depend on people giving you money for income.
If there’s only one thing I’d take away from this, it’s that perseverance gets you far in life. Sure, he wasn’t the most presentable guy out there, and I don’t see him winning any presidential elections in the future, but his demeanor is what’s keeping him around. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. It’s funny how you don’t see “sticking it out” as something useful until a man like that comes along and proves you otherwise.
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