This is the story of how I met a man playing the fiddle in the parking lot of King Soopers. What’s the first thing you imagined on hearing that? A dirty guy with a broken fiddle? A refugee from a war-torn country playing for food money? A whacky clown in the back of a flatbed pick-up truck filled with hay? A person with a Trump hat in the back of a flatbed Ford pickup with hay and pitchforks?
What if I told you he was a migrant playing for food and rent money? As far as I could tell, he was. I read the sign. It was spelled incorrectly but phonetically correct, as the Spanish speaker might attempt to sound it out. So, I assumed he was a migrant.
I didn’t look at the quality of his violin. Or his clothes. Or his PA system. What I heard was beautiful. I love John Lennon. I’m not sold on all of his philosophies, but I love him as someone who aspired to love humanity earnestly but with a dash of optimism. I saw he was playing for his family, and I thought…
So am I. I’m out promoting the living shit out of myself on four different levels. I’m a novelist. I have a small entertainment business (G.A.’s Old West Photo Booth & Cinemafia Productions, LTD), and I am experimenting with managing bands (Why Will? & Circles We Draw). So I’m racing with manic worries because I’m also self-employed.
I’m a literary artist.
G.A.: “I should be above self-promotion.”
EVIL G.A.: “You're a salesman! You love to pitch.”
G.A.: “I’m a journalist…this is what’s happening right now. I’ve never seen this at my local King Soopers before. My neighborhood has changed.”
So I took a video of him thinking this is something I want to share because it made me feel something. I just naturally felt compassionate for him in the sense of being a fellow artist trying to pay his bills by wearing his heart on his sleeve.
But I knew what my Dear Audience might say.
“Scammer”
“Bum”
“Immigrant”
And I’m there with him. Feeling accused. You called me…
“Irresponsible”
“Manic”
“Addict”
And I wear my heart on my sleeve because I want you to know it’s bleeding. I want to tell you why so I can endure it. All I want to do is tell you my stories because I think I’m pretty good at it.
I think it’s my gift. I think this man believes his violin is a gift. I know he could do something else, sure. But I also know that might actually kill him.
He and I stand here offering our passion and accepting your judgment.
This is how I “virtue signal,” Dear Audience.
This man could be a scammer, though. I might be helping him scam because I felt an emotional connection with his set up. He had a professional set up and made my iPhone footage look amazing. I can understand why some people thought THIS GUY was the one who had it made so it would go viral. Like he paid to portray himself as a guy on the music scene.
Have you asked yourself who is “scamming” you right now? Who are you posting about? Whose pictures do you post on social media?
But I tell you what, whether I was duped into giving him $20 because he was a con-artist, or if I was called to do a corporal work of mercy…I’m not worried.
It was a good show. And I felt good paying for art.
This is how I virtue signal.
I don’t know what he was. I’m still asking myself why I’m so wrapped up in it. Have you ever actually asked yourself WHY you think the way you do? Why do you do it?
Whose posts do you approve of?
Why do they post it?
I do it to sell my books:
My books here 👉 https://linktr.ee/gajohnson
And promote my partners in art.
@Kindavaguerecords
My new novel A More Perfect Union releases 11.1.24.
Unless RFK JR asks me to release it sooner.
#kindavaguerecords #indienoveliat #westcolfax #electionjournal #denvermusicscene #denverwriter #undergroundjournalism
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