A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the
violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about
45 minutes. During that time, it was calculated that a thousand people went
through the station, most of them on their way to work.
Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed the musician playing. He
slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his
schedule.
A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw
the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.
A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but
the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late
for work.
The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged
him along and hurried, but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally
the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all
the time. Several other children did the same and all parents, without
exception, forced them to move on.
In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for
a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He
collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one
noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best
musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever
written with a violin worth US$3.5 million.
Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater
in Boston and the tickets averaged $100.
This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was
organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about
perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a
commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do
we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected
context?
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians
in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are
we missing?
May the new year bring us time to enjoy simple pleasures in life.
