[911Rob]

Here is a true story; you can draw your own conclusions from the story. Some of my thoughts follow; I would love to hear what your conclusions are, because truly they are dependent on the individual and their train of thought at the time they read this?
Rob

Subject: Joshua Bell in the Subway...

http://www.joshuabell.com
A man sat at a metro station in Washington D . C . and started to play the violin. It was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of
them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up 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, a man 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, 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. This action was repeated by several other children. All the
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 3.5 million dollars. Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats averaged $100. Joshua Bell -playing incognito in the metro station - was organized by
the Washington Post as part of an 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 talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:- 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?

Will one of the nation's greatest musicians be noticed in a D.C. Metro stop during rush hour? Violinist Joshua Bell experimented for Gene Weingarten's Sunday Magazine story in The Washington Post. ...

Captured on YouTube: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=hnOPu0_YWhw

Although the Washington Post emphasizes the fact that we are missing other beautiful things in our lives; which is likely very true, I have some additional thoughts about the “intended lesson” of life therein. I can only imagine how beautiful and outstanding the performance must have been? In addition, we must admit that there is a perception about reality herein; is there really one violinist that is the BEST in the world?, or through marketing, imaging and impressions we are led to believe that he is the best? I think this is more true, although I wouldn’t want to take away from how beautiful it most certainly must’ve been? Life has a way of branding each and every one of us and I think more than ever, that this branding comes from within; our perceptions of ourselves. There are far too many wonderful and beautiful things in our lives NOT to be happy and joyful. Regardless of other peoples perceptions of you, be happy; follow your bliss. My two cents. Rob. I would love to hear about your two cents?
Joshua Bell In Concert: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=rKwmfkDQ_Ws

This is a true story.

See http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/bell.asp