Compassion (or lack thereof)

Downtown Ashland is a world all its own, with glittering store windows set in tudor-style buildings and the inescapable presence of the bard. While designed to attract the wealthy and elite, downtown is also a home to the homeless and a prime location for panhandling. I sought out these parts of downtown thinking that I would at be able to get at least one shot of a random donation being made for the sake of compassion.

Zeke Brandov-Ysrael (on guitar) and Danny Cornett.

What I found was an almost total lack of compassion from each passerby. I waited for hours and never saw a single cent given to the group of six or more rotating people occupying the corner of E Main and S Pioneer streets. The individuals in the group seem unfazed by the lack of acknowledgment from those walking past, but it is clear they hope for a world filled with sharing and compassionate people. "When the world sleeps, I'm more comfortable," says Nicholas Sebastien. "People spend all this time judging when they don't need to."

Zeke
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David
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Tricky
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Sebastien
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Tara
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What I also found was a group of people who maintained a great deal of compassion for one another as well as the rest of the human race in spite of the lack of compassion they'd been shown.

Every so often someone carefully rearranges the hat, the bills and coins inside, and the flowers adorning it all.

At the end of each day the money is divided up equally among all. An average day might earn them $12 - $15 total and the cash seems to be spent primarily on coffee and cigarettes.

Once in a while someone will buy a cigarette off a stranger with funds from the hat, sharing it with everyone else.

Those who can play take turns with Zeke's guitar. Sebastien once had a Fender of his own (better suited to his wide vocal range) that he claims was stolen from its downtown hiding place and sold for more than three times its purchase price.

Zeke employs a method of guitar playing seldom seen among musicians.

I found myself fixated somewhat on a song that Zeke had written titled "Shades of Gray," which includes the following lyrics:

I've been watching as my friends all fade away
and their sorrows turn a darker shade of gray
How do we forget compassion
and what is up with the latest fashion today?

Danny entertains himself by performing stunts off of the various landscape features.

Zeke reads messages lining a mysterious colored cinderblock.

According to Tara the rock appeared in the vicinity one day, bearing the message "From Key & Ree to YOU!" Since then it has been lovingly cared for by the group. "We have to hide it every day cuz the cops'll steal it," explains Tara.

"I like the quote about the butterfly," says Tricky.

Tricky and Zeke hide their faces as Sebastien launches into a rock version of the song he'd been singing.