Happy People

("Do I Do" by Stevie Wonder. Heavy Horns. Spring music. Fits today.)

The weather was so nice late this afternoon that I decided to go for a nice stroll in Midtown. On my way to the subway, I passed students sitting placidly on university steps. Tiny kids playing jump rope on the green. Flip flops back on frat boys. Students, people were awake and fresh it seemed, after a long urban hibernation. Even on the train. A duo, sort of a B-list version of Sam and Dave, came aboard the "1/9" from another car and instead of the inaudible groans one normally senses from passengers, people actually seemed to await what clever song/jokes/cut-rate batteries they would offer their captive audience.

They chose "This Little Light of Mine". My headphones and I were deep in love, concentrating on OutKast's "West Savannah". So beyond the first note, I couldn't initially gage the strength of their performance. But glancing at the older Asian lady sitting across from me, it seemed they were making their mark. She, in fact smiled. Igniting the smiles of her neighbors to her right and left. Which caused the performers to smile. Which caused me to smile. (Funny how that works, right?) *Smile*

I guess spring does that to you. Everyone was freer, happier. Seemingly less aggressive. Oddly, no one tried to bumrush the train as the doors closed. I heard no dude get clean cussed out for pushing up on someone's ample posterior. Even the folks at Ray's Pizza (shout out to Ray's) seemed as if they'd snacked on some of that "happy crackety crack." It was surreal...in a good way. Anyways, I, having caught the jovial mood as I walked, decided to make a day of the smiles. I ventured out with a friend to see the 7 p.m. show "Guess Who". Distracted by the funny tag team of Bernie and Ashton, I watched the racial card being thrown back and forth at me like I was caught in a some sort of hyper-version of "monkey in the middle". Except none of the tosses went over my head. Luckily for me, my earlier spring-sprung smile wasn't misplaced watching the screen duo singing to "You'll Never Find," by Lou Rawls, the epitome of laughable machismo. But as the lights turned up and we headed back uptown, the cynic in me prompted myself for some day spoiler.

None to be had.

Once home, I even found the antics of my roommate's cat (which I normally find to be one of the devil's chulren) amusing. And then there was Charles Barkley on Letterman, talking about why people are scared of large Negroes. LOL. I so love that man! ... And, there he was, cracking me up from the T.V. Maybe there was really joy in the New York City air. Or maybe it was just the wise words of a great poet of our time, Ice Cube -- "I have to say it was a good day."