The Piano - A Chance Encounter

I have a shop, and work there everyday. My friend finds this ironic because I have absolutely no patience with people! As a rule.

                                                                                

                                      (original photo)

I am well aware that I can appear unapproachable and stand-offish, which honestly, is something I cultivate, dealing with the public all day long. I just don't have a high nonsense tolerance, or truthfully, any nonsense tolerance whatsoever.

But I do like (some) people and chance encounters that touch my soul with their truthfulness, mean a disproportionate (maybe) amount to me. Yesterday at the shop I was approached by a poor looking older black man with either his two sons, or grandsons. We have a piano for sale in the shop, and I have a sign on it requesting that it not be played. Otherwise every second person will walk past and bash on it, possibly damaging it, or annoying the hell out of me. He started to tell me a story about how you could not buy a pair of shoes without fitting them on. Knowing where this was going I explained that I didn't mind people "testing" the piano if they spoke to me first. He showed me his youngest son/grandson and told me that he was the one who played and that he was interested in buying it for him.

Whether this was true or not, working in a shop means you can NEVER judge by appearances when it comes to a possible sale and the way he approached me immediately allowed me to assure him that I didn't mind at all if he tested it.

I can only describe what ensued as nectar to my ears.

I already knew the piano had a beautiful sound, as a couple of people have played it. I am not knowledgeable about music, but could recognise that the other players were playing classical piano music. I have no idea what this young boy played, I couldn't place it, and truthfully was lost in the short piece. Possibly it was a piece of his own creation? When he was done the old man and two boys came back to see me, to tell me that they would consider a possible purchase. I felt sad, as perhaps, by the look of them, the price would be out of their reach. I told the boy, the most unremarkable, unassuming person you could imagine, that I really enjoyed his playing. The old man agreed and told me that the boy had started playing on keyboards when he was seven, and was self taught. I asked the boy how old he was and he said, fourteen, but was exceptionally shy.  I told him I thought he had an amazing talent, and the old man agreed with me, muttering that he would have to take him to Johannesburg to become noticed by the "right" people. How I wish this for him.

Later I thought I should have asked him to play for a couple of hours and I would have paid him. As soon as that thought entered my mind, I was glad that I didn't think of it. Imagine if his playing "sold" the piano to someone who could afford it, while he was still there?

(image: pixabay)

The encounter left me both happy and sad. I am most certainly in no position to be donating pianos, that made me sad. I was happy that for a few moments, our souls were united in the honest connection of the beauty of music. The saying goes, people are in your life for a moment, a season, or a lifetime. That was one of my moments. If we pay attention, we can recognise our "moments" and our souls can grow.

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