W.O.W.- busker

busker \BUS-kur\, noun:
A person who entertains (as by playing music) in public places.

We come across buskers a lot in New York City. Sometimes they are really really good, and I want to stop running to wherever it is I'm going to listen for a spell. Sometimes they are really really, bad and I run a little faster to wherever it is I'm going.
Good or bad, I often wonder what their stories are, like the elderly gentleman at the Roosevelt subway station that has a number of dancing dolls that move to the sound of his keyboard. Anyone know his story?
Or the lively five-piece brass band that plays at the 42nd Street Port Authority station. Do they do it for the pure love of it?
The man in the photo above has a story (a busker of Seattle). When he was an infant, someone accidentally sprayed acid in his eyes instead of water and has been blind ever since. He finds the greatest joy in the sounds of music. That's why he does it. If he earns a little money to help him along, great.
I have a respect for all buskers, good and bad, whether they do it because they want to or have to. They are doing something.