Scout’s honor – the story I am about to tell you is true. I was on the crosstown bus last week with my younger son. The bus was crowded and hot. Everyone (including me) was grumpy. The woman next to me was annoyed that I kept bumping her with my bag and the man near us ended up with my son in his lap as my son unsuccessfully tried to navigate standing, holding onto the bar and eating his snack all at once. All of a sudden, the bus driver got on his microphone and asked if it was anyone’s birthday. The bus was silent (don’t try to cheer New Yorkers up on a crowded bus). He asked again. Silence. “Come on people, it has to be at least one person’s birthday.”
An elderly woman tentatively raised her hand – “It’s my birthday,” she said. The bus driver asked her name (“Carmen”) and the passengers all passed her name along until it reached the driver. “Well, Carmen, I have a surprise for you. We’re ALL going to sing you happy birthday.” And then something miraculous happened. The entire bus started belting out Happy Birthday to a delighted Carmen. Every passenger. Every. Single. One.
Then the driver had all of us introduce ourselves to the person next to us. And, you know what? The entire mood of the bus changed. By the end of the ride I was high-fiving the woman that, five minutes ago, was ready to kill me. My son shared some snack with the man he kept bumping into. It basically turned into a party bus. All because of one driver.
Here’s to one person changing the world – one crowded city bus at a time.
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