My band, The Mensclub, was on tour in the Great Northwest in the late 90's trying to get noticed and not become roadkill on Grant's pass. It was in these green rolling hills that I found the true essence of the word HUSTLE. I had never really thought about hustling until I met a cat name Carl playing pickup basketball in the suburbs of Seattle. Carl was a nice enough guy, an above average basketball player, but noticeably sketchy due to his preachy-ness around the subject of sobriety. Well, feeling sort of sorry for him, (i.e. taking the bait) we invited him down to our show that night before parting ways.
Not thinking much more about it, we showered up at a friend's house and went down the Lake Union Pub for our "promotional" gig. We unloaded our gear and started to relax before our set, when in walks Carl. He was wearing a blazer, baseball hat and sneakers. I didn't know it, but that is the uniform of the hustler. His sneakers squeaked out the theme from "The Sting" as he walked.
It didn't take Carl long to get to his spiel, "Hey Tommy, I noticed you talkin' to that blonde over there. "Why yes Carl, that is my friend Susan, I replied. "Well, Tommy, I'll get straight to the point. I'm a small time-hustler" stated Carl with the confidence of a lion. I didn't reply and I didn't feel good about where this was going, but it didn't curb my curiosity, either. Carl added, "Yeah, I could hook up your friend with some guy, hey even you for a small fee".
I thought that was rather friendly of Carl, offering me the first shot at being my friend Susan's john. It was then that I learned Hustlers, whether small time or big time, can be classy that way. It is nice to know that even in the face of cold-ass, hard-scrabble lives, Hustler's sometimes take the time to look out for a brother. Carl, even though I had to strongly dissuade you from approaching Susan, most importantly because it was our fault you were even in the same room, I have forever respected Hustlers due to your gracious introduction.
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