I got it with my bag. That's crazy. Really cold.
I'm colder than you. Colder than you. Colder than you. Colder than you. I don't want to get sick of it.
Except for the iron hand.
I don't want to get sick of it.
My name's... Start?
Yeah, my name's Teresa. Teresa Picharilla.
I'm 62 years old.
Let's go.
I'm 62 years old.
I've been a lot of things in my life.
I've been a security guard. I've been a waitress.
I've been a topless dancer. Just for a minute.
I'm going to have a little cold.
And I wanted to be an artist and a musician.
Really?
And I learned choreography.
I learned the finer points of reading and writing music.
I studied... I furthered my studies of violin, mandolin, guitar, piano.
I couldn't play the flute though. I never could get my lips right on the dang thing.
At a very early age, I got very used to standing up in front of a bunch of people.
It's been acting. So I don't get stage fright. It's really easy for me to present myself to groups of people.
It's one of the reasons I can do what I do now.
And with these, you know, it's easy for me to do. I don't get self-conscious.
If I do, I hide it very well.
A little bit.
That's cute.
They hit a $5 bill in kind of a one.
Thank you, God.
Thank you, God. Thank you, Lord.
I always say thank you to God, you know?
You've got to give credit. We're creditless, too.
Without God's mercy, I'd be nowhere.
I'm not a religious fanatic, mind you.
But hey.
I sing outside of the foreign money exchange.
There's a foreign money exchange, a hotel, and a Thai restaurant.
And they're all three of these places right next to each other.
And I sing there because they have a little mini park right there on the side of the sidewalk.
And it's a beautiful pot of plant that I can lean up against.
And it's set back from the street just a little bit.
It's like tailor-made for me.
I thought, I'm going to make this my spot.
There's nobody else for forces.
I know eventually somebody's going to give you something.
So I don't get impatient.
You know, it's not a war of nerves for me at all.
I'm a very easy-going, laid-back, happy-go-lucky sort of person.
Anyway, you know, it doesn't really bother me.
If it takes a long time for someone to notice, we can give you $1.
What do you notice to me?
I can't believe it.
I'm real good-starving today. Very hungry.
I love children.
I love children. I just love them.
Thank you.
I just like to be around them.
They make me feel good.
I was standing by my window.
No children.
I have step-children.
Because my late husband, I was with him for 13 years.
And he has three sons and a daughter.
Yeah, I write to them all the time and they write to me.
But I never ask them for money.
They don't know how poor I am and I'm not going to tell them.
I've been for myself.
Because I was brought up that way.
I was brought up to believe that hard work is good for the soul.
Thank you so much.
Usually, I sing Appalachian gospel music.
Like Baptist hymns like Will the Circle Be Unbroken?
Will the Circle Be Unbroken and Will the Circle Be Unbroken?
I sing the same song over and over again.
Because I sing it well.
Would you like to hear it?
It's my late husband's favorite song.
And it's kind of like a tribute to him.
I sang that song to him while he was dying.
I was with him when he died.
I was singing to him with my guitar in the convalescent hall.
He was a very good man.
And I sing that song for him.
And he liked me to sing it over and over again.
So I sing it over and over again.
And that's how I started singing that particular song.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
See, I've got this cold that's really kicking my butt.
And it makes it hard for me to sing.
And I'm scared that I'll wake up one day this week
and not be able to sing at all.
And then what will I do?
I'll come out here and sing anyway.
It's the warm body principle.
As long as you show up and have a pulse,
somebody will give you money.
Thank you.
Yeah, I love to perform because I make people smile.
It makes them happy.
People come and they don't just put money in my cup.
They say, you have a beautiful voice or I like your song.
Or do you like doing this?
And I always sing.
Yeah, I made you happy.
If it pleases you, it pleases me.
It makes me really happy.
I love to sing out here.
I always feel better after coming out here.
I never miss...
I wouldn't miss a day.
Even if I got a call and took them out here.
It's not just the money.
I like people.
They smile at me.
They like you.
It's nice.
In so many words, I say, we like you.
And, you know,
there's nothing better than that.
There's nothing better than that in the whole world, you know?
I mean, I'm doing what I love to do.
And I have a roof over my head.
I eat enough food to eat.
I have pretty clothes to wear.
I get some of the goodwill, but, you know.
And my life right now is a happy, peaceful one.
And that's the most anybody can really hope for.
