The Night Bus Sing-Along

On the last bus home from the city on New Year's Eve, around one a.m., the bus was packed with tired people in party hats and glittery dresses. Someone in the back started singing "Auld Lang Syne."

At first it was just a few voices. Then the whole bus joined in, even the driver, who sang into his microphone so it came through the speakers. Nobody knew all the words. We hummed the parts we didn't know.

When it ended, a man in a tuxedo started "Don't Stop Believin'." The bus roared. A teenage girl climbed onto a seat and conducted. An older couple in the front danced in the aisle at a red light.

I've ridden that bus a thousand times. I've never seen strangers so happy together. When I got off at my stop, the whole bus yelled "Happy New Year!" at me like I was their friend. I guess I was.