In Europe, the means by which peddlers, buskers and vagrants alike hustle for dollars on the street-level is much different than in North America. When compared, European beggars are performers, fortune tellers and musicians whereas North American bums are lazy, intoxicated narco-state drones that expect you to provision their next crack rock, smack injection, or bottle of liquor like it’s your societal duty to do so. Most of the time they don’t even say thank-you. Instead, the amount of money you fork over is likely to be scoffed at and regarded as too little. In Europe, behavior of this nature is frowned upon and people engaging in such activities get the boot quick-time. Here, simply asking for a cigarette is viewed with great distaste. Unlike the emcee in Vancouver that will spit you a discombobulated rap for a dollar, the santa clause-esque bum in front of Toronto’s Union Station that recites memorized poems for change, or the peeps in New York that flex on you hard for a chicken wing, European hustlers seem to work harder for your scratch.

Out of the dope slingers that don’t deliver, transsexuals swarming you on La Rambla for pocket change, or the numerous pick pocketers, it’s the musicians that have the most profitable hustle figured out. Pop-up bands, as we like to call them, consist of one to four musicians and just seem to pop-up in front of cafés and restaurants out of nowhere. Instrumentation for the trio or quatro typically consists of an accordion, a guitar, a violin, a trumpet or sax and a stand-up bass. In France, they play upbeat traditional French music, and in Spain they recite a mean and diverse bossa nova. After a routine that typically lasts two to eight minutes (while the rest of the band still jams), the front man walks around the immediate vicinity, upside down cap in hand, politely encouraging donations. Out of good manners and appreciation for the auditory pleasures, pretty much everybody (whether a local or tourist) parts with some pocket change. After collecting some quickly earned revenues, the pop-up band quickly disassembles and moves on to the next spot.