although by definition he was indeed a man, his presence gave no indication of a strict gender at all, or even a human for that matter. he was, for the moment i saw, a pure expression of honest emotions and although strikingly naive it was as if he had not a single worry - that he was made of gold that day. he was obviously older: late twenties to early thirties, out of shape, plenty of facial hair that gather heavily at his chin and sprawled out more gently to his round full cheeks, but his eyes easily could have been that of an excited and curious little boy. he had high spirits and it was easy to see they could not be stolen from him because, as i made up my mind, this was who he was every day.
the bus looped around gratiot, the man pointed out the window to an establishment in the distance, nodded to himself, and pulled on the rope in request to be left off at the next stop. as he got up and walked passed my seat to the back door i had the urge to tell him something. anything positive. ”hey, i was noticing your natural behavior and you simply made my day better just by being you!” or something a little less bold like ”hey, i hope the rest of your day is really good!” i just wanted to openly return whatever feeling he had given me, unbeknownst to him, back. i get this urge a lot and a lot of the time it comes from the random bus travelers because it’s the most time of my day that i am surrounded by strangers. a person can flip upside down another person’s entire day, or world, from a single gesture and not even know the slightest clue that they have done so. the expression on a man’s face, a cute girl’s haircut, a teenage boy giving an old man his seat. it’s absolutely incredible. watch your actions, kids, you could be famous in someone’s (human, tree, animal) life.
