Alan was blind. His mother was distraught when he decided to live on his own.
“You won’t cope”, she said. Nonetheless, Alan left home and went into a single apartment. He couldn’t find a job, but Welfare provided a small income.
Mother’s Day was coming up, and Alan thought if he bought his mother a lovely present she’d know how well he was coping. But the Welfare didn’t provide enough to live on as well as the cost of a Mother’s Day gift. So Alan, who played the piano accordion fairly well, went busking.
He set himself up outside a pub, with a tin on the pavement, and launched into a tune.
He could sense people coming out of the bar and walking by. He could feel people stopping and listening. He heard laughter and lovely comments. He could hear the tinkle of coins being tossed into his collection tin.
He played all afternoon, and
tinkle
tinkle
tinkle
went the money in the tin! He just might do this every weekend! Yeehaw!!!
Later, when he went to count his money, he found they were bottle tops.