Smiles make a bus feel like home

I took the bus to work for many years. No one knew each other; the passengers all sat there sleepily in the morning. The bus was cheerless and silent.

One of the passengers was a small grey man who took the bus to the center for senior citizens every morning. No one ever paid very much attention to him.

One July morning he said good morning to the driver and smiled. The driver nodded guardedly. The rest of us were silent.

The next day, the old man boarded with a big smile and said in a loud voice:"a very good morning to you all!” some of us looked up, amazed, and murmured “good morning” in reply.

The following weeks, our friend was dressed in a nice old suit and tie. The thin hair had been carefully combed. He said good morning to us every day and we gradually began to nod and talk to each other.

One morning he even had a bunch of wild flowers in his hand. The driver turned around smilingly and asked:” Have you got yourself a girlfriend, Charlie?” We never got to know if his name really was “Charlie”, but he nodded shyly and said yes. The other passengers whistled and clapped at him. Charlie waved the flowers before he sat down on his seat.

Every morning after that Charlie always brought flowers. Some passengers also brought flowers for him. The bus became a happy place.

Then, one morning, as autumn was closing in, Charlie wasn’t waiting at his usual stop. When he wasn’t there the next day and the day after that, we started wondering if he was sick or-hopefully-on holiday somewhere.

When we came nearer to the center for senior citizens, one of the passengers asked the driver to wait. We all held our breaths when she went to the door.

The old gentleman was fine, but one of his close friends had died over the weekend. How silent we were the rest of the way to work.

The next Monday Charlie was waiting at the stop, stopping a bit more, a little bit more gray, and without a tie. Inside the bus was silent. Even though no one had talked about it, all of us sat there silently, our eyes filled with tears and a bunch of wild flowers in our hands.

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