I was having a really bad day and decided to leave work early. Midway through subway ride home I'm self-consumed and on the verge of tears when a man gets on with a boombox, a microphone and an unidentifiable black box. He then proceeds to serenade the train with the Michael Jackson song "Black or White." He starts dancing and holding up the microphone to random passengers to sign the chorus. The next thing you know a sing-along has begun and I can't stop laughing with the stranger sitting next to me.

For the grand finale he presses a button on the black box and BOOM! Bubble machine - bubbles everywhere.

He got off at the next stop.

May seem tame, but I sat beside a lady who read her book upside down for 15 minutes straight. Turned pages and everything.

After the Rally to Restore Sanity, caught a train to get lunch with some friends. Every car is packed, but the one we get on seems particularly boisterous.

An old man with a bible on his lap is spouting off about gays, and their detrimental effect on society. To cover up his malarkey, a guy in his full fatigues is leading the entire train in whatever song he can think of; 'Row Your Boat', 'Wheels on the Bus', '99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall. During '99 Bottles, to keep everyone singing, he starts doing a s******r dance for the old guy, to which the whole car goes crazy. It was loud, cramped, and beautiful. The old fella gets off at the next stop.

As everyone is basking in the afterglow of his perfectly human moment, the guy says rather directly "I ship out to Iraq on Monday." Silence fills the car.

We happened get off at the same stop he did. Every person who got off with us either shook his hand or gave him a hug.

Hope he came home safe.