my movie moment: bob marley chorus on the subway.

After a long and stressful work day, I left my client's apartment and headed straight back to Manhattan on the 5 train. About 2 or 3 stops in, these two men got on the train, set up 2 congas and a guitar in the middle of the car, and started shouting some things at the passengers. With the exception of the man across from me (who was far too excited), everyone rolled their eyes, looked away, continued their conversations with one another. Because I'm a fan of the conga (and other like percussion instruments), they kept my attention. The man across from me kept jittering and saying to his neighbor, "When are they going to stop talking and start playing?!?!?"

And finally they did.
As soon as they started, I couldn't help but smile -- and neither could the woman next to me or the couple across from her. Clearly, these men had chosen a very good song: Three Little Birds (the inspiration for this blog's title!).

By the end of the first verse, more than half the car was singing, humming, swaying, or tapping along. By the end of the chorus, everyone was grooving. One little boy even took a plastic maraca and played along. And as we hit the following stops it got more crowded but definitely more cheery. I swear when I say that people were smiling and laughing and singing, I really mean it was like a scene from a movie. I loved it.

At one point, the guitarist went around to grab the bills from people (he didn't even have to ask!). One woman just stepped on the train from the Wall Street stop and he said to her, "Excuse me, miss. You dropped something." She looked down and back up at him, confused and clearly unhappy with his presence. He smiled and said, "You dropped your smile! I saw it on the floor there and...there you go! It looks good on you. Don't lose that again, okay!" Haha, awesome.

Before they got off the train, they thanked New York and said, "Every little thing's gonna be alright, folks! Keep smiling and let's all try to make this world a better place with some love and happiness!"

Made. My. Day.

As Jay-Z said, "Rest in peace, Bob Marley."