My commute takes me along the Nimitz highway under the H-1 near the airport. This particular stretch has quite a few bus stops so there’s almost always one nearby pulling into and out of one.

I was enjoying the adrenaline-filled 5-miles-per-hour pace that speeds along at rush hour when a bus a few cars ahead of me signaled its desire to merge back into traffic and, when I got to the right spot, I slowed (to even LESS that 5 mph) and let him in. Score one small victory for good citizenship. On the upper right side of the rear of every bus is a sign that shows the number of the bus route (this one happened to be 40 in case anyone wants to know) and, once the driver had maneuvered his way into the flow of traffic, the lights that form the number were briefly replaced by a shaka-waving hand and then a “mahalo” before the 40 re-appeared.

So how cool is THAT? It means two things, both welcome surprises. First, the driver took the time to press the buttons that translate into “thanks, bruddah”. Second, and this is the part that came to me later, somebody had to have made the decision to spend the time and money to create the buttons that allowed him to DO that. Nice.

It’s such a simple thing but it’s also profound because at some point in the past someone came up with the idea to add this small bit of kindness to the bus. This was then pitched to whoever makes bus-specific decisions and THEY supported the small but of kindness too. Kinda makes you think that humanity still has a chance. It certainly brought a smile to my face and made my commute just a little better (but no faster).

What does this have to do with our merry band of minstrels and singers? If you think about it, our personal participation in a community choir is much the same. We each made each the decision to add a small bit of kindness to the lives of the both the people we sing with and the people we sing for. The members of the community who make the concert-attendance decision are showing their support for the small bit of kindness too.

Fling a shaka and a “mahalo” indeed!