One Big, Weird Family.

I had the most random bus ride home tonight, and that's saying a lot because I feel like I always have random bus trips. When I got on after work a man standing right next to the front door smiled and said, "Welcome to to family!"

I get comments from weirdos about 300 times a day, so I lightly smiled and moved to the back of the bus.

At the next stop, before more people got on he said to the rest of the bus, "Here comes more family!" And as each person boarded he would point and tell everyone, "This is our brother! This is my sister!"

When an old woman with an ice cream cone got on at Comm Ave he asked loudly, "Would anyone like some of her ice cream? It's OK, she's my sister. I'm feeling generous."

The woman held her ice cream a little tighter as she ate it and never once cracked a smile. By the fifth or sixth time he had offered to share her cone with the bus, I think she had had it. 

When new people were picked up he would happily tell them, "You're my brother." And then introduce them to the bus as such. "Excuse me, family? This is our brother."

Asking two college girls sitting next to each other if they were sisters they politely said no, just friends. He corrected them by saying, "No, you're sisters. And your sister is behind you too." Pointing to me, the girls turned around and I faked surprise, asking one of them in disbelief, "Sister?!" To which she replied, "Oh my gosh! Sister!"

I let my smile fade and said in a serious tone, "You should call mom."

We exchanged smiles, they turned around, and I spent the rest of my ride listening to the introduction of more siblings and wondering if I actually could get a bite of that cone.