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[Nabubrush]

Poor people own refrigerators now? Well la-de-da!

[pmcd9]

BEST. THING. EVER.

Good Lord!

[Nabubrush]

I've seen quite a few 'shops of that.

[side_show]

I received this email from the dude I had previously quoted:

Good morning and good day!!!!!!:
I'm writing to you, to ask if, it is at, all possible that, I might use you as, a Individual reference, for my Employment Resume that, I'M now updating. Could you please inform me[ A.S.A.P.]  iF it is ok to,add your Contact info to my list of persons who can vouch for me in, this field of work that we all engage in . Thank you for all your support , past and, present.

Sure you can use me as a reference, but you better hope they don't ask me any questions about your ability to understand proper comma usage.

[jay-ell]

Why do I ever post anything on Facebook that I know The Priest will disagree with? I did not want to get into an argument with him today. I just wanted to post an article that I thought would be interesting to some friends of mine who are public schoolteachers. I really should set up friend groups for that, but holy shit. He is becoming more and more paranoid and libertarian with every passing year.

But the worst part was when one of my husband's friends said he was thinking of pulling his kid out of his current school because he thinks that the kid's teacher assistant doesn't like Kid very much. It was very hard not to say, "Of course she doesn't, the teacher probably doesn't either, because your kid is a brat with no respect for authority. And you are responsible for raising him that way. Pulling him out of school mid-year to rescue him from an adult who calls him on his shitty attitude is not going to help him in the long run."

My other friend's son is in the bratty kid's class, and he has told me that none of the other kids like Bratty Kid because not only does he disrespect the teacher, he is generally mean and lies to get other kids in trouble. Their response to a teacher's negative disciplinary report last semester was to talk to the principal and say that they wanted her reprimanded for being "too demanding" and having "high expectations" for their first-grader. Other reports on this teacher say that she is awesome, very supportive of the kids' individual learning styles, and yes, has high standards but gives the kids every opportunity to do their best.

I hate to be judgmental about other people's parenting, but the decisions they've made about their kids and the resulting insufferablility of their offspring has effectively ended our friendship. I can't put Danger Boy in the same room as Bratty Kid because they Do Not Play Well, and since they have never had a babysitter for him in seven (!!) years, we can't ever see them in a kid-free environment. So, we don't see them. But every time I see an update on BK's school travails on FB it makes me cringe.

[pmcd9]

[pmcd9]

This just irked the ever lovin' shit out of me.

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 1,100 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, and 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 most talented musicians in the world. He had just played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, on a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $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?

[jay-ell]

Why, exactly? I mean, yes, it's written glurgily, but I read the WashPo article when it came out and was struck by how nobody stopped to listen at all.

I don't live in an area where street musicians are commonplace, but there used to be a dude near the University when I worked/attended there who would play around lunchtime a few days a week on the sidewalk near the main strip of hole-in-the-wall eateries. I always dropped a bill or two in his violin case and If I saw him on my way in to lunch, I would make time on my way out to stop and listen for a while. He was talented and the pieces he selected always put a spring in my step. He had crazy, curly, long gray hair and smelled like he slept in a dumpster, but the dude could play like a bat out of hell.

I never got why people would walk by and pretend not to see him, not even drop a quarter in and keep walking. Here's a guy, down on his luck, trying to make a living outside the system by giving something back to the community. Something of value. Something only he could provide -- pouring out his soul on the violin in 100 degree heat on a street corner. I don't know, you gotta respect that, right?

[jay-ell]

Ugggh, I am such an idiot. Somebody come to my Facebook wall and just tell me to stop talking, already.

[CortJstr]

The Joshua Bell story's interesting to me. It pops up a couple of times a year and I'm always surprised by how many Washingtonians have never heard it before.

[side_show]

Ugggh, I am such an idiot. Somebody come to my Facebook wall and just tell me to stop talking, already.

Ha.  Well, this time you asked for it.  Some of the folks you interact with are a pretty narrow in focus.

[jay-ell]

I know...I should have just posted it on G+, but some of the people I thought would enjoy reading it aren't over there.

I think I'm done now. Thanks, Dan.

[wombat]

The Joshua Bell story's interesting to me. It pops up a couple of times a year and I'm always surprised by how many Washingtonians have never heard it before.

It's because no one reads the newspaper anymore. Don't remind me.

That story won a Pulitzer, by the way. I'm impressed at the gall of anyone who feels they're a good enough writer to edit to down to an email to forward.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html

[side_show]

It's because no one reads the newspaper anymore. Don't remind me.

That story won a Pulitzer, by the way. I'm impressed at the gall of anyone who feels they're a good enough writer to edit to down to an email to forward.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html

"Impressed" isn't the word I would use.

[pmcd9]

It's because no one reads the newspaper anymore. Don't remind me.

That story won a Pulitzer, by the way. I'm impressed at the gall of anyone who feels they're a good enough writer to edit to down to an email to forward.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html

Maybe that's the problem I am having with this, the editing.  I call bullshit on that blub because it presupposes that people don't care about art because they didn't stop to listen to a violin player when they are in a hurry to catch a train.  Some of the people who hurried past him may have even been the same people who paid $100 dollars to see him perform the night before. 

Now I'm calling bullshit because I have to read the whole article to get more perspective.