Ok, so I think every second word on the radio is "Haiti". Everyone and their dog is throwing off a benefit show or begging for money to help the people of the devastating earthquakes from a while back. If you can sense a little bile bubbling under the surface from me then you are right. While I appreciate the fact that most people want to help, I don't believe all their hearts are in the right place.
Now, before you pull out your wagging fingers and shame on yous, let me set this up for you with a little information.
St. John's has the highest per-capita rate for musicians (with their jobs and sole earning potential listed as musician)in the entire country. On any given day you can go to a pub in town and there'll be someone sitting on a stool singing for their supper. On the streets there are buskers. In the schools there are educated musicians. Their EVERYWHERE here, waiting for Canadian Idol to come back on TV with all their hopes and dreams in the balance.
Now... on the radio it feels and seems like every one of them is trying to raise money for Haiti. How many of these people are doing it out of the goodness of their hearts? I can guarantee you that it is NOT 100%. What is Jo Blo Guitar Man going to be able to do to lure people to a show in a dingy night club on Water Street on a Tuesday night? Tell em he's givin proceeds to Haiti. Suddenly the bleeding hearts are out and instead of 2 people in the bar, he's got 10 there. The bar get's a teenie little more business and the singer gets a kick back from the whole deal.
This is a world where nobody does anything without some sort of ulterior motive, and here in Newfoundland, it's masked with "Newfie Kindness". A few bad apples spoil the bunch.
Now we should all do our part. But we need to know, and let it be known, that it's being done for the right reasons. No... Simon Cowell will NOT go to a dingy bar in downtown St. John's, no matter how many bleeding heart cards you pull. Do it because there is a genuine need for helping these people through a horrific time (see the good people at Spirit of NL, BTW), not because you need a career boost.
C
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