Philotic Web

If a world famous violinist was playing in the metro on the way to work, would you stop to listen or just walk on by?

Pearls Before Breakfast

OMG, Joshua Bell?! I don't think I could move at all!

That's depressing.

Probably not. I'm always late.

What a brilliant article. Thanks for the link. And I hope you all took the time to read it instead of just gleaning the punchline from it (oh, the irony!) because it is worth it.

I have to be honest -- I've heard Joshua Bell's CD before and enjoyed the hell out of it. But I most certainly would have marched on by. I'm always in a hurry, with somewhere to go, and I focus.

And I would have been ashamed and kicked myself for it afterwards.

I'd keep walking, but slow down to hear as much as possible without being late to wherever I was going.

What a brilliant article. Thanks for the link. And I hope you all took the time to read it instead of just gleaning the punchline from it (oh, the irony!) because it is worth it.

I certainly read all (or at least most) of the article. I also intend to go back and watch the clips they have attached to it - amusingly I was about to run off to work when I found, read, posted etc.

Hey, I've used that stop quite a few times. It almost makes me wish I was back in DC when he did this...

I would probably not stop. I do hear music I really like being played in metro stations, but usually I feel I've gotten enough just during the escalator ride. If I stop to listen, I don't know when I'd leave.

If I wasn't in a hurry, I'd probably stop and listen, then just catch the next train. But if I was in a hurry, I wouldn't stop.

I can't imagine not stopping, even if only for a few seconds. But then, I like to idle.

i would probably speed up...

I thought that John might say something like that...

Me, though.. I have never even heard of this guy...

I would probably just keep going, and ignore it.

I've been thinking about this, and I talked about it briefly with my best friend and my da. My da pointed out that I tend to give some kind of recognition when there's good music on the subway, even if I don't have time to stop or don't have money with me. And, if my best friend had been with me, I certainly would have stopped. She's a violinist, and knows good violin work, thank you very much.

Heh.

That, and also this isn't the usual music you would hear from a street fiddler. I might have stopped... probably out of novelty.

A response in the Post-Gazette: Out of context