Open Your.....

What if you took a world class muscician, and had him play on the sidewalk hawking for a buck? Would people Appreciate it? I recall that when I first revived my childhood love of birdwatching, I began to notice that even in the city, the morning air was filled with the songs of a dozen different birds. For years, I lived on the same street, on the same block, and never noticed, until I took notice. how many Joshua Bells do you pass everyday, muttering about the price of coffee?
From The Washington Post:

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; W10

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.