Looks like only Children Can See the Ghosts…
I’m a little late to the party, as many people have commented on this particular social experiment. A prodigious violinist playing incredibly difficult music with a Stradivarius was playing on the street, for a crowd of a total of 1, 070 passersby…and hardly anyone listened.
“…he seems so apart from his audience — unseen, unheard, otherworldly — that you find yourself thinking that he’s not really there. A ghost.
Only then do you see it: He is the one who is real. They are the ghosts.”
The other interesting phenomenon is that children, apparently, did take notice:
“…the behavior of one demographic remained absolutely consistent. Every single time a child walked past, he or she tried to stop and watch. And every single time, a parent scooted the kid away.”
Makes you want to cry, doesn’t it? As it happens, I’m in Minneapolis right now and visiting a friend, Amanda, who plays viola for the Century College Orchestra. I decided to ask her opinion, as she’s paid good money to see Josh Bell (dreamboat that he is) play in concert. “I remember looking at his picture in ‘String’ magazine when I was in junior high, and it was like pin-up material.”
” I understand people being in a hurry, having a certain mindset on their way to work…having a one-track mind. I think, as a musician, if I walked by I would have figured that something special was going on. I often stop. I might not have known it was Josh Bell, but I would have noticed the repertory, and that something special was going on.”
“He had a Strad, which looks like a piece of junk, but is such an amazing instrument. I would have never guessed that, because of how bad the finish is…the back all patchy.”
When see street musicians, I’m careful not to just throw money. That’s kind of insulting – I’ll throw you money, but you’re not worth staying to listen. “They’re not just beggars–they’re performing. They’re using their art to enrich a moment of your life…” The money is just another way to show your appreciation. When I’ve not had money, just a smile is enough to make their day in return.
In the end, just like any of us, we all just want to be appreciated.
1 Comment
well it’s a lie onlt children can see ghosts because some cornt and fully grown men and women have! I am one person to see ghosts but my lose the powers like the oneses me and my friends have ganed which are pritty hard to explane.