April was a lovely little month. It was the only month since starting this feature that I did not have to omit anything. I did not overhear anything disturbing. And that is a wonderful thing.
I was at the hair salon and a woman in her late fifties had just finished getting her hair done. She was glowing. Her hair was bouncy. And so was she.
As she was exiting the salon I stopped her and said, “You look beautiful. Your hair looks great.”
She smiled widely and reached up in wonder to touch her shiny hair. “Do you think so? I think I really love it. I haven’t done something like this in years. I have horses and I have had a long pony tail for twenty years.”
“This feels so nice.”
We wished each other a good day. Her husband pulled up to pick her up and I could see her excitement as she practically skipped to the car.
It was a nice moment to witness.
I was at the store and a little girl of about three years old was standing next to her mother at the counter. There was a teddy bear being sold above the little girl’s head, it’s fluffy body slouched over near the mother’s arm.
The little girl pointed to the bear.
“Bear?!” She exclaimed.
“Bear!” She said again.
The man checking them out looked down at the little girl and then at the mother and said, “Ha! Does she really want a beer?”
The mother looked confused.
She asked the little girl what she wanted to which the little girl exclaimed, “bear!” She pointed to the obvious stuffed animal next to the oblivious two adults.
“Oh!” They both realized at once.
Then the mother said to the man, “She wants the bear. I’m the one who could use a beer.”
Then the mother and daughter left the store.
Bearless and Beerless.
I know how they feel.
My husband overheard this recently:
“Would you like to be part of the lunch run?”
“No thanks. I grabbed McDonald’s while I was at Walmart buying ammunition.”
My family and I went to Disneyland last week. It was very crowded and we took a moment to people watch. We sat on a bench and enjoyed frozen lemonade in the breezy afternoon.
I wrote down the snippets of conversations I overheard as people quickly made their way by us:
“I want bubbles!”
“I need a piece of paper.”
“LOVE! Love. Love. Love. Love. Love.”
“I don’t feel like eating a lollipop.”
“When I first met Holly, I was super, I don’t know… distracted.”
“Someone needs to go hold hands.”
“MOM! MOM!”
“What?”
“You want some banana flavored ice cream?”
“Don’t fall out.”
“Dad! Do it again!”
“It’s basically a liquid churro.”
“Ellie. Not a good choice.”
“Well, this is the happiest place on Earth,” said in the saddest voice.
“Shooting explosion!”
“She got the cricket!”
What?”
“Melanie got the cricket in our room!”
“Don’t wrap things around your neck!”
“So… He went to her room and slept.”
“The password is 55622.”
I forgot to include this funny conversation I overheard in the bathroom between two very young intoxicated young women in Las Vegas last month.
“I’ve like never been like one of those girls who has planned their wedding since they were like five.”
“Yea. Me neither.”
“I hope it’s not going to be lame.”
“Will there be alcohol?”
“Yes.”
“Oh good!”
“I just like hope it doesn’t rain. And I need to like figure out colors.”
“But will there be an open bar?”
“Yes.”
“Oh. Good.”
“I haven’t even like decided what kind of dress I want. What if I like get it too short?”
“Will you be serving booze?”
“YES!”
“Then it will be awesome.”
We were waiting for a table at a restaurant in Disneyland. Next to us was a party of eight also waiting for a table. We were each given a pager that would light up and buzz when our table was ready. The family had never heard of this before.
“I don’t understand. You’re not going to call my name?”
“No. You have a pager. It will go off when your table is ready,”
“Okay.” The lady sat down next to her friend. They both examined the device.
They spoke amongst themselves,
“Is it going off?”
“I think so. Or maybe you’re holding it wrong.”
The friend went up to the hostess, “I think you gave her a broken thingy because nothing is happening and we’re hungry.”
The hostess looked impatient. “That is because your table is not ready yet. Your pager will go off when your table is ready.”
“But I’m hungry.”
“I understand that, but your table is not ready.”
The friend returned to sit with the other despondent woman. They both sat staring at the little black mysterious device.
Five minutes passed. They argued amongst themselves. “Does that flashing light mean the table is ready? Why couldn’t they just call our name? I think the device is broken.”
Finally, they got up, slammed the pager on the hostess counter and pronounced, “I’m not waiting anymore! This thing is broken!”
The hostess watched them walk away. Then she carefully put away eight menus.
They would have been next!
They missed some good food.
And seeing the device, “go off.”
Instead they were the ones who went off and I showed my children that being patient does pay off.
And also that their mommy can make chili cheese fries absolutely anywhere.
Our family was at the gas station and my husband had gone inside to purchase a bottle of water. I was watching the open glass doors to the gas station. I noticed a stocky man with tattoos trailing up his flailing arms. He was having what appeared to be a heated conversation with the gas attendant.
I knew my husband was witnessing the whole thing and I was excited to hear what was going on.
The man exited the gas station and got into a station wagon with a young blonde woman in her twenties. They did not look at each other and appeared to be upset.
When my husband got to our car, I asked him what he had happened.
He said, “that man was just going off on how he didn’t understand women. How his girlfriend had left him and then came back. Then he bought her flowers and she left. Now she came back but moved out. He doesn’t know what she is doing.”
I took all of that in and then told him I saw the happy couple drive away together.
My husband said he assumed that the man was talking to the gas station attendant because they were friends, but when the man left, the gas station attendant said to my husband, “Man. You know you have woman problems when you are telling complete strangers about them.”
My husband said, “You didn’t know that guy?”
And the gas station attendant said, “No. He just came in here and started ranting.”
I used to think hairdressers got all of the dirt. But I am now revising my theory to gas attendant. They must see and hear the craziest things!
Did you overhear anything nice or funny in April? Please share!
If you missed last month’s “Overheard In,” you can find it here.
