Metal Reviews

I know I'm ignoring the entire point of the experiment by pointing this out, but did anyone else notice that he made 32 fucking dollars for 45 minutes of work?! Isn't the minimum wage in D.C. something like 5 or 6 dollars an hour? I realize he's the best violinist in the world and all, but he made close to five times minimum wage by busking! If he could keep up those figures, and just hit the morning and evening commuters, he could get 60 dollars a day for 90 minutes of work.... that's a pretty sweet deal.

On to something a bit more relevant... I think it does day something that he made so much money. While not many people stopped to appreciate the music, those who did gave fairly generously (27 people gave him money, and he ended up with 32 dollars and change, so presumably everyone gave him at least a dollar). The generosity of the tips could show an appreciation for the beauty of the music.

As for people appreciating beauty, and the zombification of commuters: I'm sure part of it is like what AZ said... people have places to go and jobs to get to, and simply don't have time to stop and appreciate music. It's kinda sad, but it's a comment on the pressures of work just as much as it is on people. Secondly, I think a huge factor the violinist has going against him is that people are numb to buskers. There are probably tons of buskers in D.C., and after hearing them every day you start to tune them out. It doesn't matter if they are playing 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' or Mozart, you just ignore it and go about your business.

Yeah, I thought about that too. Not a bad wage, which I think the guy pointed out himself in the article. Didn't the one woman who recognized him at the end give him a 20 though?

-Tyrion

I think they said they didn't count that. I'm not really sure.