http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnOPu0_YWhw
> Washington DC Metro Station on a cold January morning. He
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> played six
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> Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx 2 thousand
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> people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
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> After 3 mins a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing.
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> He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to
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> meet his schedule.
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> 4 mins later the violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw
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> the money in the till and, without stopping, continued to walk.
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> 6 minutes, a young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then
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> looked at his watch and started to walk again.
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> 10 mins: a 3 year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along
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> hurriedly, as the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the
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> mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head
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> all the time. This action was repeated by several other children.
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> Every parent, without exception, forced them to move on.
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> 45 minutes; the musician played. Only 6 people stopped and stayed for
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> a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal
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> pace.
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> He collected $32.
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> 1 hour; he finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No
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> one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
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> No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best
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> musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces
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> ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days
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> before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats
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> averaged $100.
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> This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro
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> station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social
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> experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities. The
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> questions raised: in a common place environment at an inappropriate
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> hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we
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> recognize talent in an unexpected context?
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> One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be:
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> If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best
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> musicians in the world playing some of the finest music ever written,
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> with one of the most beautiful instruments .... how many other things
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> are we missing?
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