Dan and Heba wrote to me today regarding my post on Joshua Bell’s incognito performance in the D.C. Metro station.

I hope you — like me — can find enjoyment (and perhaps even criticism) in their wonderful commentaries.

To: Phil
From: Dan
Date: Late night
Subject: Contact Form Results

I must admit I only had time to quickly scan the article…Are they honestly saying Mr. Bell’s experiment demonstrates even remotely something about the average person’s disdain for classical music? They can’t actually be condemning society this way. If this is case, someone should introduce these vain people to the scientific method.

Amongst the many flaws this experiment has, the most outright is in the context. As someone who currently lives in a city with a subway system, I know that whether you’re playing pop/rock/classical/african music, you’re likely to be ignored by tens of thousands of people in a given day. Even the greatest classical enthusiast doesn’t hang out in the dirty, acoustically-dreadful subway to hear masterpieces…

So why should busy and unsuspecting commuting people be expected to pay any attention? Do people even have to visibly react or pay him to prove they enjoyed/acknowledged something? I see and hear things all the time that I find enjoyable but I don’t always stop to smell the roses.

On the other end of the spectrum, I don’t interrupt my morning jog when I see people I dislike to punch them in the face, either. Maybe I should.

In this case, neglect does not necessarily imply disrespect.

Tell the proponents of that attention-seeking virtuoso to get a clue. They make better musicians than scientists/sociologists.

Night,
Daniel

To: Phil
From: Heba
Date: Sometime this afternoon
Subject: Contact Form Results

Math and classical music are not for the masses, but [are] very fine indeed. Most people like junk food, not gourmet stuff. So math and classical music is gourmet food for the mind and soul. Cherished by those who covet true quality. You, Mr. Phil, are a true connoisseur of gourmet food.

Heba

I find it endlessly amusing when people call me Mr. Phil.