I just spend 45 minutes reading one article from the Washington Post. I only read it once and cried. I've never really had that type of reaction without my own personal hormone imbalance. This was amazing. One of the world's most reknowned violinists played in the middle of the L'Enfant Plaza in Washington, DC during rush hour. Almost 1,100 people passed him. Out of that in the 45-minute performance, only seven people stopped what they were doing to listen...SEVEN! And in the entire time, with his violin case open, he got $32 for performances that are $100 for the "worst" seats in the house. This man makes $1,000 a minute (per the Washington Post) and over a thousand people walked by without even noticing. Of the people the writers did observe who wanted to stop but couldn't, children. What does this say about us, as a society? It breaks my heart to know that we have gotten so cold, so heartless, that we don't even take the time to acknowledge beauty, especially when something that amazing and special is in our presence. Will we ever know what we're missing if we don't stop?
That's one place where I see a stark difference between current society and that of my grandmother's time; they stop and listen. Whenever I'm in a nursing home, it doesn't matter if I'm having a good musical day. It doesn't matter if I play all the chords right. They stop. Not only that, but they pull themselves from their wheelchairs, their rooms, and almost flock to the music. I'm not saying that I have remarkable skills, I'm saying the appreciation for beautiful things, for the aesthetic things-- the music, the art--is gone.
I will never blindly pass a street musician again or any musician for that matter.
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