A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing.
He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule. A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.
The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally, the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.
In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.
Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.
This is a real story. Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the metro station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?
One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?
Snope.com article says this is true and discusses it further. The kicker, "The Washington Post won a Pulitzer in the feature writing category for Gene Weingarten’s April 2007 story about this experiment.
The Bis Key Chronicles 
I had read this before with great interest. No, we are all in such a hurry that we don’t take time to stop and smell the roses.
often pondered that same idea, but then I have been known to be late for appointments and so on though stopping to smell the roses and talk to the person whose garden they are in …lolhave a great dayhugsdebsxxx
Darling this piece really touched my heart. I believe we often are lost in a world not of our own making so sad indeed for simpler times were held with such pleasantries.We are creatures dictated to respond by the things we are programmed too. I have often thought we have lost our way not only as a society but also as individuals. Darling when is the last time you remember going out the first of spring just to fly a kite or take a walk then a lovely picnic with your love to just bask in the brilliance of nature. Far to often we let the littlest things in life pass us by. I realized this many years ago. I became aware how precious ever moment is because of a loss of a loved one. So we can all learn a valued lesson from this post. Yes please stop for fragrant flowers await for us to partake of their beauteous bloom.Then look at the beauty that surrounds and thank God you have been gifted the breath for just another day to partake of such rich sweetness. As so many times before you darling always surprise and delight. My heartfelt thank you for gifting me as well as so many other a moment of reflection. You are a darling. Kisses Catherine