Si Senior, Gracias

Tonight I am returning from having been downtown to relax a little before heading into the next business week here. On the way home to Crystal City I went to catch the yellow line from Chinatown and was fully distracted by my thoughts and the soundtrack playing through my iPhone.

I flipped open the metro app to see when the train would arrive and it said it would show up in about one minute. Just then people started to fill the platform from various directions.

I noticed this Hispanic family paying very close attention to their map and each other. Everyone was holding hands. Suddenly the matriarch of the family stepped up the couple standing beside me and said something in Spanish. The darker-skinned man next to me replied "Si!" and the lady smiled.

As the metro opened its doors the family, hand in hand all flowed onto the train.

I found myself sitting just behind the couple who offered advice in Spanish to the family. They all kept smiling over in the direction of the couple, appearing thankful for his having shared advice with them. Then I overheard the couples conversation.

"I did not know you knew Spanish," she said.

"Yeah, people see me and think I know Spanish. This wasn't the first time," he replied.

He went on, "Usually it is just a question and so I just say 'Si' which means yes."

I was in shock! What did the family ask him? Were they on the right train? Did they ask about something to do with what would be at their coming destination?

At the next stop the family got up, all hand in hand, and began to file off the train. Each of them smiled at the couple. The patriarch of the family took up the rear of their family line and as he exited the train said, "Gracias!" to the couple.

As our train took off again, their conversation briefly continued.

"What did he say," she asked.

"He said Gracias, which I think means... like... 'You are a very kind person'... or something like that," he replied.

I really hope that family is not lost in DC? How bizarre was that?