SuperDad

I see him on the bus regularly, and he is an inspiration.

A tall, slender black man, he has with him three small black children (it's usually four), the eldest of whom cannot be more than six. From the level of intimacy he has with them, and the level of respect he commands from them, it's obvious that he's no nanny or babysitter - these are his kids.

And they are extremely well-behaved kids. There is not room for them all to sit together, so the eldest, a boy, sits across the aisle from dad, next to a stranger. The two daughters sit with him, the younger on his lap.

They are calm, controlled, quiet. They are sitting still.

I've seen countless examples of children who misbehave on the bus, and of children who are behaving but interacting with the passengers to display how cute they are. These kids have been infected by the bus rider's unwritten rule of social reality: be quiet and don't talk to anybody. Perhaps that's not a good thing, when even children are caused to lose their humanity on the bus.

But this dad definitely has my admiration for how he has instilled in these kids his sense of order and discipline. Well done.

There's my stop.