Joshua Bell and Me

The world-famous violinist Joshua Bell was seen busking recently in a subway station in Boston.  Many of you have probably seen the email circulating on the internet where he decided to take his 3.5 million-dollar violin into the subways and play.  I'm not sure why he did this, but maybe it was to make the point that even an virtuoso like him can go unnoticed, like a diamond in the rough, when he is put into a certain environment.  Setting can be everything. 

The email chronicles how people walked right by him, and some even threw money into his case.  He made thirty-two dollars in forty-five minutes.  That's pretty good, I'd say.  I'm not sure how long he played there.  It all sounds like an experiment for Sociology 101, where students would stage something and stand off to the side and take notes about man-on-the-street reactions.  That night Joshua Bell played a concert in Boston where the seats averaged over a hundred dollars.
This story is very comforting to me in some ways.  I play a guitar, an old Harmony Sovereign, from the sixties which belonged to my father.  That's one reason I play it.  It was my father's. The other reason I play it is because it had a big body and it projects the sound well.  My point is, it cost seventy-five dollars new back then.  It's a great guitar.  I am comforted to know that if I paid 3.5 million for a guitar that I wouldn't be making that much more money and it would never pay for itself.
I also love the environment I play in.  Mondays I play in Suburban Station.  I have my regulars, who stop by, give support in various ways.  I have my shop keepers and restaurant owners I check in with.  Even the cops and maintenance people give me a nod.  I have one person who drops off a granola bar every time he sees me.  And recently a older woman had business card made up for me, just because, without my knowledge.
People take care of me.
As the week progresses with this good weather I play in Rittenhouse Square Park.  You couldn't ask for a more beautiful stage to play on.  The azaleas are in full bloom, the trees offer delicious shade, there is a constant flow of people, who have the luxury of staying to listen or moving on, as they are not stuck in one-hundred-dollar seats, wishing they were somewhere else or itching to answer their cell phones.  Business people and shoppers enjoy their lunches on benches, and nannies congregate with their children.  On Fridays and Saturdays sometimes I'll walk on the wild side and play to a younger, more raucous crowd in Old City near the fancy restaurants and bars, where people out out to have a good time and spend money. 
It's all good.
In some ways Joshua Bell has got it made.
But you know what?  So do I.