Earlier this week, NY Times Styles section had an unabashedly uplifting article ("The New Face of Race Relations") about cross-racial discussion, post-Obama win. It brings up tasty issues like the rippling effect of Obama's victory and the anxiety many of feel when discussing race.

The tail end of Sarah Kershaw's article, about two strangers on a BART train to Oakland, is touching, slightly uncomfortable, and, well, pretty cool.

On the morning after the election, Kristin Rothballer, 36, who lives in San Francisco, kissed her female partner goodbye on the train while commuting to work. A black woman who sat down next to her turned and said she was sorry that Proposition 8, the amendment to ban gay marriage in the state, looked like it was going to pass.

"We grabbed hands," Ms. Rothballer recalled. "And I said, 'Well, I really want to congratulate you because we have a black president and that's amazing.' "

"Our conversation then almost became about the fact that we were having the conversation," she said.

Something moved her to apologize to the black woman for slavery.

"For two strangers riding a train to Oakland to have that conversation about race, it wouldn't have been possible if Obama hadn't been elected," she said. "I always felt open with my colleagues, but to say to a stranger on the train, 'Hey, I'm sorry about slavery,' that just doesn't happen."

See, BART isn't all that bad.