Two Men on the Bus

Today on the bus, I was two men.

A teen sat on the seat across from me, sitting with his headphones on and bobbing to the music that only he could hear. After a couple of minutes, snatches of phrases of the song started to escape from his mouth. At first they were quiet, but they started to get louder and louder.

The first man in me heard the bits of music and thought, "This guy is crazy. Doesn't he know you're supposed to wear earphones on the bus? I guess the rules don't cover singing... but still the driver ought to say something. What if he's bugging people on the bus. Is he bugging me? He shouldn't be singing out loud. He's making a scene."

The teen started to sing out the chorus of his song with full voice. The bus wasn't very full. He didn't seem self conscious.

The second man in me thought, "His voice isn't bad. It's actually pretty good. The bus isn't too full and he isn't singing something offensive. Isn't it great that he's feeling the music so much? Isn't music a blessing?"

The first man in me turned his head to look straight at the singing teen, perhaps to shame him with a glance. The second man in me smiled at the teen when our eyes met.

The chorus was over and the teen lapsed back into silence. Still, I smiled the smile of the second man until I got off the bus.