The Monkey and the Grinder.

I've never seen this partnership except in a few old movies. I doubt this profession exists anymore. In the movies there was a guy down on the street with a music machine. He would turn a crank the music would play, the monkey would dance.  The crowd would be delighted by the antics of the costumed monkey at the end of the show the monkey would grab a cup and solicit payment for the show.  The monkey always got loose and worked the larger crowd. The monkeys getting loose generated most of the revenue for the show. Having worked that area the monkey would get on the back of the grinder. The grinder pushed the music machine to the next location.  When they arrived, the grinder turned the crank on the music machine, the monkey danced, you get the picture. There are a number of metaphors in this romantic picture. We have mostly forgotten them or where they came from.  "Working for peanuts".and "having a monkey on your back"  come from this metaphor.So do "working for the man" and "being on a short chain."  The concept of "nickel man" is similar. " If I had  nickel for each time I've been put on, I would be the nickel man. And I'd sing a nickel song" SINGS the MONKEY.  The plight of the worker, put on the back of the employer, aspiring to be the boss and knowing he could and would do it better.
     That's all most of us ever get to see in this economic scenario. Most of us aspire to be the grinder. We get caught in the daily grind.  The unmentioned, vital, character that makes it  all possible never gets mentioned. He's the third ingredient. He's the real magic.  He's the one that sees the opportunity. He is the maker of the music machine!  It's an Art ya know?