Transit Trivia

I am a regular user of public transit in Vancouver and generally it is a solemn experience with grumpy almost stoic Vancouverites sacrificing for the environment to take public transit. This morning it was an entirely different ride to do.wntown. I got a packed bus and thought that it would be another morning of being crammed like sardines next to some corporate suit checking his blackberry. As I boarded the bus I noticed chocolate bars hanging near the driver. I thought that this was weird, was he selling them? Giving them away to passengers that smiled at him? I was curious about these chocolately treats. About 15 minutes into the ride, the driver came over the loudspeaker and anounced that we would be playing transit trivia for a chocolate bar and winners were decided by applause. For the first time in many many rides downtown the transit ride had some excitement, people were smiling and laughing. People were chatting with each other and applauding. As many people got off the bus at their stops, they were smiling. This silly little game for an insignificant prize made so many people smile. It definitely made me smile for the rest of the day whenever I thought about "John" our bus driver and his trivia game.