Uncommon wonder

Joshua Bell, a renowned violinist, plays in the Washington DC Metro like a common panhandler. Do people recognize him, or stop their busy lives to appreciate the beauty of his music or the Stradavarius he brings into the station?

This is a beautifully written, cute experiment by the Washington Post: Pearls before breakfast.

The acoustics proved surprisingly kind. Though the arcade is of utilitarian design, a buffer between the Metro escalator and the outdoors, it somehow caught the sound and bounced it back round and resonant. The violin is an instrument that is said to be much like the human voice, and in this musician's masterly hands, it sobbed and laughed and sang -- ecstatic, sorrowful, importuning, adoring, flirtatious, castigating, playful, romancing, merry, triumphal, sumptuous.

So, what do you think happened?

Apparently, few few people wondered about the virtuoso performance. So sad, and a reminder to appreciate beauty in our lives, and to wonder.