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Wednesday, May 19, 2021

Driven Almost to "Violinsce"

Hi Bloggie "Frens," as I used to call my visitors back on my Penniwigs blog. I also, for some reason, called everyone my Elven Friends and Donkey Frens. I love donkeys. Donkeys and mules are really bright and have such determined personalities. Or at least it seems that way, of the donkeys and mules I have known.

Well, frens (don't even ask how that word got started), were you with me back when I posted this post, called "Beauty All Around"  (<--- Link but don't bother) or somesuch saccharine title? About a fancifully dressed older Mexican lady from Juarez across the border, a poor displaced musician, starving during COVID? Her only possession her beloved violin, which she would play untiringly, making beauty in order to feed her family, song after song? HMPH. If you did read it and listen to the video, here's an update: IT WAS ALL FAKE.

Grrr, grrrr, gnashing of teeth!

Today after school I went to make a deposit at the school's bank. It's right near where I saw the woman playing the violin the first time. Lo and behold, again in the parking lot, another sign about a starving violinist who had "2 starving kids," another identical set-up with amplifier, another person playing like a cheap version of Doug Kershaw. To those who don't know, Doug Kershaw was from my neck of the woods and was a crazy Cajun fiddler who played with energy, verve, and insane moves. But real music, real moves.

This "violinist" certainly didn't look starving. In fact, he looked pretty plump. And he looked just like the man who last week was holding up a sign begging for donations to help his "dying niece" get medical care for a "rare tumor." 

And...as I rolled my window down to hear the tune, yep, it was the same tune as before, played exactly as before. Exactly. Per-zack-ly. Just a recording. Oh, I don't know why, but I got so irate. I felt the hair lift up on my head, I was so incensed. And I was grimly disappointed. 

I pulled over and watched a minute. Yes, the next song was just as before, when the lady had played last year. And the violinist "played" with a fury just as she had, but less gracefully, whipping that bow back and forth like a labrador's tail, but not playing a note on the fake fiddle. 

All these "violinists" with the amplifiers are fake. A quick Google search really set my teeth on edge. All these scams, all this fakery, ugh!

Gah! And then to get home to a scene from The Godfather, played out in the tiny courtyard. Take a look at my expensive shatterproof "fiberglass" donkey from a street vendor from Juarez, and to think I felt bad for the man and was impressed by his ability to create "fiberglass" statuary in that border town: 


broken cheap plaster yard ornament


Yes, fake again. It was just Plaster of Paris, coated with a shiny paint. Oh, the perfidy.

I hope everyone is having a good day -- certainly a better day than poor Donkey had. 




20 comments :

  1. It is irritating to say the least!! I used to give $ to panhandlers that need food for starving family at traffic lights...then one day after I"donated" I had done some grocery shopping & loading all the bags in the car, when the very same panhandler was coming out of the liquor store with his purchase!!
    I confronted him and told him if I see him again, I will call the cops!!

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  2. Oh, what a sad tale from beginning to end...and that poor donkey! Did someone do that on purpose? I am so sorry. People are so strange, aren't they? Those violinist people are very "clever" indeed. I do not give to people on the street corners begging. I've heard too many stories of just how "poor" they really are (not!). And now, there are help wanted signs everywhere! They need to look for a job. So I pray for them to do the right thing, and I make my donations through our church, which supports several local ministries that help needy people in our community. That's the best way. Have a blessed day my wonderful friend.

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  3. Wow how sad. When we would drive into Boston for my husband's Dr there was a man at the last set of lights saying he needed money for a cancer operation. He was 100 yards from one of the best hospitals in the world I will not believe they said no money no operation. He has done it for years now and people roll their windows down and give him money.
    Cathy

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  4. Nowadays it happens very frequently.
    Difficult to get the truth.

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  5. Humans! the more I meet them the more i love my dog... to bad we humans can't take lessons from dogs... now that i wrote that not all dogs are nice. hummmm sorry about the donkey, will you be able to repair it? what happened to it that it got broken

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  6. We all want to believe...in each other and the good we see all around...oh and the beauty! How shameful to destroy that. And then there's donkey....we all loved donkey! boohoo!

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  7. OH I'm so sorry ~ I don't care much for fakery either. I have no wise words to make it all better, but will say what I do. Look for 1 little REAL thing, say thank you for it, then look for another - no matter how little a flower, a pretty rock, a child's smile.
    Donkeys are funny!

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  8. Oh no, your donkey broke! I'm so sorry to hear that, Holly. You just never know what stories, books, or movies are really true any more. That's why I find comfort and peace in our God who never changes, is always there, and is always true. : )

    I hope better days are ahead for you, Holly.

    ~Sheri

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  9. Oh no... My heart has been aching lately with all the LIES.. FAKE NEWS.. and more. I am praying common sense will come back to America.
    And the world.
    Carla

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  10. I'm sort of losing my faith in pretty much everything. So sad when you've been raised to have faith and be a good person.
    Briony
    x

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  11. I remember that post! How disappointing that is was just a scam. Then to come home to a broken "fiberglass" donkey.
    If people spent more time being productive and less time on trying to figure out how to scam others, this world would be a much better place.

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  12. I truly hate days when reality breaks my bubble....And the more people I know, the more I understand why I choose to live with animals. The scammers and spammers disgust me and they certainly are proliferating. I think one of the things that disturbs me the most is that it has a chilling effect on those who see it making them hesitate to donate and thereby hurting those who truly need it.... And the "scammery" goes from the corner cons to the large non-profits and well-known organizations. Once destroyed, trust can be hesitant to return. And poor, poor, donkey. Growing up we had a donkey named Emily that my dad rescued. Emily was up there in years and had never been fenced and so it was at our house. And she had the most annoying habit of standing under my window in the mornings and braying. No need for an alarm I guess. Here's to hoping your tomorrow is brighter. ~Robin~

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  13. Poor donkey. Poor you and all the rest of us because we're losing our faith in people. First I learned that politicians tell huge lies then I discovered that ordinary people also deceive us. We risk becoming the most cynical generation ever.

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  14. How sad. Well, they think they need the money more than you.

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  15. We had a young man with a sign saying he was homeless too! Well someone knew him and posted it all over that her lived the rich life and was just doing it for more money. Went to Chicago once with my girlfriends and had a supposed homeless man come up to us. We refused to give him any money. Then he says to my girlfriend, you have a Louis Vuitton (purse) there, you could afford a few dollars. I then said to him, if you were homeless, how would you know what a Lois Vuitton purse would look like. SCAMMERS everywhere. Just sucks cause there really are those who truly need help. Janice

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  16. Sounds like the donkey wasn't the only one who didn't have a good day. I feel for both you and the donkey.

    My friend Sally is like you and has a caring heart. Some gal stopped Sally in a parking lot and told her that her money and purse had been stolen and could she give a few dollars so she could buy something to eat. Sally gave her $5.00. She looked at me and I told her she now had three more dollars than I had, and I wasn't asking anyone for money. Sally thinks I'm cynical. I had my purse stolen once in a grocery store. I saw the guy who did it, screamed at the top of my lungs and they immediately locked the store down, grabbed the guy, and waited for the police to take him to jail. If this grifter had notified the police, they would have helped her in some way, at least that is my belief.

    It's sad that we get taken, and I believe in helping. I believe in charity. I just believe the charity should be one like the Red Cross or a real charitable foundation.

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  17. I remember when you used to call us "frens", and the sweet references to donkeys, I rather like them. People...have changed. Sad. We usually will have them by the highway with signs here.

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  18. Why does anyone, with a functioning brain, fall for any of those "Need $$$$$" scams????????

    🌱🌺🌱"Blogs are little First Amendment machines."🌱🌺🌱

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