Debate: Did that busker on Central really deserve to get kicked out last weekend?

I was grabbing coffee near San Mateo on Saturday night and saw this older guy playing guitar outside the gas station. He had a decent crowd, maybe 12 people just listening, but then some guy in a suit walks up and starts yelling at him about noise complaints or something. The busker just kept playing, didn't even look up, and the guy called the cops. My friend says the busker was in the wrong because it's private property, but I feel like if nobody's complaining except one dude, why ruin a good vibe? Has anyone else seen this kind of thing escalate like that around here?

3 comments

3 Comments

chen.casey25d ago

Heard from a buddy who was there that the busker had been setting up there for years without any issues, so it sounded like that suit guy was just having a bad day.

joseph_torres24d ago

That reminds me of a guy I saw down on Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica last summer. There was this older dude playing acoustic covers every weekend for like six years straight, never a peep from anyone. Then one day some tourist in a fancy suit starts yelling at him about "noise pollution" and calls the cops. The officer walked over, laughed, and told the suit guy that dude had a proper permit and the city loved him. I watched the whole thing while eating a sad hot dog. Some people just wake up and decide to make it everyone's problem, you know?

emery1924d ago

Wait, did the suit guy actually apologize or just storm off after being embarrassed like that...? I've seen this kind of thing before where someone gets humiliated and they just double down instead of backing off. Makes me wonder what was really going on with him, you know? Like maybe he had some bad news or was stressed about work and took it out on the wrong person. But still, six years of peaceful playing and then one random complaint seems more like entitlement than a bad day. The cop laughing at him is the best part though, gotta love when the system actually works for the little guy for once.