Thursday, July 23, 2009

The Old Violin

I'm posting an email trail that started over three years ago from my friend Steve ... aka 612. It's not a coded name ... its just that he arrives at swim practice late every day typically around 6:12AM ... I should restate that in a Bohemian way ... he arrives at a time that fits his natural biorhythm :-) hence ... the 612 moniker.

I had forgotten about this story of the old violin but it speaks to other things I've written in my blog about 612 and my swim team. For example; swim teams that have lasted 20+ years don't happen just because there is a pool ... there is something more than that bringing people together, day in, and day out, year after year. We share so many hours every morning before work swimming for a masters team ... this is more than a shared experience ... its about a swimming and social community that stands together and opens its doors to all who choose to enter.


From: Steve
Sent: Sunday, July 19, 2009 2:56 PM
To: Dave
Subject: The Old Violin

Bo
I was going thru my email archive and came across this

Long Live the King!
612

From: Steve
Sent: Sunday, February 26, 2006 12:47 PM
To: Dave
Subject: The Old Violin

DaveBo!!!
fantastic!!!!!
thank you for sending this - i love the story of the old violin (especially after I so rudely walked away in the locker room after you told me you wanted to tell me this story - so thanks for your persistence in getting this idea to me) I will definitely pass this on to my daughter who has recently become a "Devil's Advocate" as I once was long ago. This is the honorary / service group that gives tours of ASU. and.........yes - we must keep SACistan in good tune and repair!!!!
it is good that we have developed this governmental system with so many ministers helping in the care and tuning!

Long Live the KIng!
6:12

From: Dave
Sent: Sunday, February 26, 2006 12:33 PM
To: "Bo"
Subject: The Old Violin


Hi Bo.

I was thinking on Friday about what you said about why we stick together; camaraderie, humor, like interests . turns out Friday evening I attended the 50th anniversary of the ASU Memorial Union. Interestingly, it is only one of 50 University student unions in the world dedicated to remembering the men and women in the armed services who gave their lives in service of their country.

The keynote speaker left us with a story about "the old violin" . about an estate auction being conducted and item after item was being sold for nominal value as all items were in disrepair, dusty, and uninteresting. One item, an old, dusty, out of tune violin came up for auction . after plucking a few of the strings the auctioneer started the bidding for the item "do I hear $1 for this item? .. Do I here $5 ? Yes? Going . go ." and then an old man in the back of the room stood and walked to the front before the item could be sold. He spent a few moments dusting off the item, tuning the strings, and then played a sweet musical arrangement to the astonishment of all those in attendance. When he finished, the old man handed the violin back to the auctioneer and walked back to his seat. Not quite knowing how to proceed the auctioneer returned to closing the sale but quickly a bid for $1,000 was offered, then $3,000 and then finally sold for $5,000.

The message being that a violin, a building (in the case of the MU), a pool, or even a country like SACistan has the greatest perceived value when it is well cared for by experts and fulfills the needs of those to who it is offered for service. Worth more pondering over a bagel, but I'm thinkin that SACistan fulfills a deeper need in us than we understand yet.


Long live the KING!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow
i can't believe this made the DJRRyan Life Blog !!!!
Long Live the King!
612

Anonymous said...

another first for 612. I think it is possible that the above comment was the first to this Blog. This could set off a wave of comments to the Blog and an explosion in readership
612

Unknown said...

612 ... I had another comment from a couple years ago. But on a percentage basis this is a little scary ... 200% growth in one day. It is sometimes hard to take two data points and plot a curve but I'll try ... if this pace keeps up ... by the end of August my blog will have over 4 billion comments!!! Scary thought ... hope the servers can handle the growth!

Bo

Anonymous said...

yes, well this is all very exciting about the explosive growth of the blog.
I also want to thank you for the very good description of the 612 way of life - " in a Bohemian way ... a time that fits the natural biorhythm"
will I have to get copyright permission to use this elsewhere since it comes from the blog??