Saturday, 8:05 a.m., Haight Fillmore - Union Fillmore

Every Saturday morning when I get on the 22 I am reminded of just how hard the working class works. Each double seat is filled with a Hispanic man, with his hood up. The man against the window is leaning his head, his face is smashed into the glass, and the man next to him is asleep on his shoulder. It is admirable, miserable and adorable all at once.
It is quiet. The fog is heavy and we, the Saturday workers, begin our journeys towards our invisible destinations of little consequence.
We sit in the back row.
A couple also boards and sits to our left. They beam with post-coital hipster glow. And in a sour morning mood I can't help but think, "You better use condoms."
The man in front of us sits alone and he takes out his phone.
And he pierces the air with -
"BAOOOOOO-WOOOOOOOOOW BAO-WOW-Wow-WOW BAAAAAOOOOOO-WOOOOOOOW BAO-WOW-Wow-WOW Ba-Bao-ner-ner-ner-NOW"
It's Sleepwalk by Santo & Johnny, the ballad from La Bamba.
He lies his grey-hoodied head back and let's whatever memory he seeks pour into him as he closes his eyes.
The T-Mobile Nokia emits just enough sound to play the song at the perfect diner level.
No one is speaking. We all look out the windows, where we can see nothing through the fog, but memories of lost loves or days spent with our brothers under weeping willows.
For a moment, we are not on the 22 at Geary and Fillmore with sirens going to give a shot of adrenaline to someone at Turk and Jones. We are each held by nostalgia and dripping, perhaps, just one tear of gratitude while listening to what I now know as chulo emo.
Fade.
And I'm so mediaized that I can here La Bamba's "Riiiiiiiitchie!" as if someone has said it.
The MP3 cuts to Ice Cube's Today Is A Good Day.
Almost all of us know the words.
We bob our head and exchange smiles. Some cannot resist bumping their hands, and why would they?
Even the couple, with bed head, wreaking of dollar PBR's, and I look at each other and I think, "I love you, you crazy kids."
I don't know about them, but we had a good day.