Sunday, April 22, 2007

(Washington Post) Pearls Before Breakfast

Pearls Before Breakfast
Can one of the nation's great musicians cut through the fog of a D.C. rush hour? Let's find out.

By Gene Weingarten
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 8, 2007

HE EMERGED FROM THE METRO AT THE L'ENFANT PLAZA STATION AND POSITIONED HIMSELF AGAINST A WALL BESIDE A TRASH BASKET. By most measures, he was nondescript: a youngish white man in jeans, a long-sleeved T-shirt and a Washington Nationals baseball cap. From a small case, he removed a violin. Placing the open case at his feet, he shrewdly threw in a few dollars and pocket change as seed money, swiveled it to face pedestrian traffic, and began to play.

2 comments:

Eastcoastdweller said...

That was an absolutely stunning, even horrifying commentary on so-called civilization!

Reminds me of a smaller-scale experiment I read about, some guy amazed that no one was paying any attention to the gorgeous symphony of birds playing around them on a spring day.

Then he flipped a quarter in the air and let it ding on the sidewalk, and just about every head turned.

Lance Abel said...

Insane.
I guess it isn't about skill. I've seen people earn a lot more than that through provocative speech.