The Trumpet Kid

I've seen this kid in front of the Ferry Building on weekends. Personally I think he's a great entertainer. He tap dances, he spins his trumpet, and he plays fun tunes. Puts a big smile on my face every time.


He was first featured on SFGate a few months ago. Yesterday there was a followup blog post about him being invited onto the Ellen Degeneres Show. When I scrolled to the bottom, I was bit disappointed to find a lot of not-so-flattering reader comments about the Trumpet Kid.

A lot of people have a lot of unkind words for the 12-year-old. They think he's being exploited by his mom, they think he's not that talented, they think he's only trying to rake in tourist bucks, they think he should be in school.

I haven't seen him often enough to have a sense of how true any of those things are. I'm generally pretty cynical, but I can't deny that this kid's performances make me really happy. I actually gave him a couple bucks and a compliment once, and anyone who knows me knows how hard it is to squeeze even one crumply faded dollar bill from my hand. So that has to count for something.

Whatever else people say, I love him. I hope he dreams big, and I hope those dreams are filled with trumpet-playing. The dude's got his whole life ahead of him and none of the nay-saying accusations should hold him back from what he wants.

Watch him on Ellen and decide for yourself.