The broken coin box seen when boarding the crosstown bus--which means everyone rides for free--was the first sign this ride was going to be a better bus ride than normal.

The good feeling riding for free inspires, with a bus full of others who are beneficiaries, must be contagious because the bus driver started playing trivia over the intercom. Playfully prodding, he requested: "Give me ten body parts that only have three letters." A woman sitting nearby quickly rolled off three: "Eye, leg, lip." Someone near the front shouted out: "toe!" and the count got to eight pretty quickly. The last two came as well, but not so easily.

