The Street Musician

It is Thursday afternoon. I was heading back home from Columbia College. I take the blue line and then the red line to school and the opposite to get back home. The subway to me is a journey itself, that I tend to look forward to every morning when I awake to go to school. I mostly never see the same faces on the subway, which is odd considering the fact that Monday through Friday I am generally at the train at the same time every single day. I got my backpack, my headphones, my ears, my eyes, my nose and hopefully the availability of an open seat where I can sit back and feel the relaxing vibrations of the bumpy train ride. The only familiar faces that I see are what are called the Street Musicians. Singers, rappers, guitar players, drum players, etc. Today after I got off the red line and was waiting for the blue line there was this lady who was playing the guitar and singing with both ease and talent. She was probably the best street musician I had seen in a long time. I always take off my headphones to hear what the musician has to offer and I often put them back on. I rarely keep them off but today I put them back in my backpack and listened, hoping the train would take longer then usual.

She was dressed as if she was in 1979 with dark brown pants, dark brown shoes, blue jacket with a dark brown shirt underneath. She had her hair in a ponytail. She was around her 50s and had been playing the guitar since she was a little girl. She too went to Columbia College but dropped out after one semester because she was not doing well in her classes and did not have the money to waste on bad grades with the inconsistent confidence in herself. She had lived with her mom her whole life, never met her father and was an only child. After she dropped out of College, she worked as a cashier and had done so for over 25 years. However she arguably made more money as a street musician which she has also been doing for over 25 years. She has many friends, close family and two kids who are currently in College. She is single and lives in a two bedroom apartment. She retired from being a cashier but not from being a street musician, although she does not perform for money any more, she does it to feel close to the city she was once a part of. She played “Let it Be” by the Beatles and played it better than I had heard anyone else play it (except of course for the Beatles themselves). I watched and then looked in my wallet for a dollar or two to spare but did not find anything. I did not feel bad because she wasn't doing it for the money and was doing it just to touch her city and see the expressions on numerous faces when they hear her.
Or at least I assumed.