To keep us on our toes, my high school orchestra conductor would occasionally single out someone he knew wasn't paying attention.
Once, while a cellist was looking back at some commotion in the hallway, he asked her opinion of a passage the violinists had just played.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't listening," the cellist responded. "I was looking at those people in the hall."
"Are they conducting?" the conductor replied.
That was a good warning to the rest of us not to let our minds wander.
