Bus Report #599

The 22 was crowded when I got on at my usual stop. There was an open seat all the way in the back against the window. No one else seemed to want it, so I worked my way back and smiled at the woman sitting in the middle of the back row.
"Can I slide in?" I asked.
She looked at me, then looked at the seat. She plucked an empty soda bottle off the seat and put it on the floor. Then she smiled and scooted a little bit to the right so I could get in to the seat.
"Thanks," I said, before she put her headphones back on.

At Mission the bus emptied out enough that I could move up a row, to the seats that face each other.
The bus was soon crowded again, but no one seemed to mind. Mostly, we were all watching a couple and their very new baby.
The mom had several plastic bags stuffed with baby clothes. She shoved the bags under the seat. The dad (well, he might have been her father, her stepfather, her uncle, or the dad, couldn't tell) held the baby girl in his arms. She was wrapped in three fleecy blankets in different shades of pink. Every couple of minutes he would unwrap the top blanket to check on her. She was so tiny and so quiet.
They were taking her to the doctor, up in Laurel Heights, and the mom thought they could take the 1 California (yep, that would work). Dad thought they should transfer to the 33 Stanyan (yep, that would also work).
I got out at Geary and waited for the 38. It arrived a few minutes later.