With Comic Con and so many treks outside of the house this month, I overheard a great deal more weird and absurd things than I normally do. I also overheard something heartbreaking. Balance… And all of that.
It’s the weekend. Let’s just get right to the eavesdropping:
At the Rose Bowl Flea Market, an old man was setting up his booth to sell his wares. He looked up and when he saw me, he approached me and said, “Have you come here to collect your iceberg detector?”
Huh? I stood there blinking. Then I walked away. All day I asked my husband what the man meant by that comment. We still do not know. But now I want to say something absurd to a random stranger that will make them wonder all day.
It is important to spread the love.
And why do I look like I need an iceberg detector?
And why do I need one?
And most importantly… What the heck is an iceberg detector?
I was at Trader Joe’s buying flowers. The older woman in the lane next to mine was also purchasing flowers. She was with her friend.
The cashier commented on her pretty flowers and she responded, “My husband passed away four years ago today. My friend didn’t want me to be alone. At my age, I am not looking to meet anyone else. So, what else am I going to do at 6:25 tonight besides leave flowers at his graveside?”
This broke my heart.
And made me appreciate her friend. I was glad she was not alone. At 6:25 that night I thought of her and hoped she was okay.
I was at a diner (which by the way is the absolute best place to eavesdrop). Two elderly women were chatting about their week.
They were discussing the merits of Bingo and the cost involved (we eat early).
“I went to… What is it called… Is it Weird Wednesday?
“You mean Wacky Wednesday?”
“Yes! Wacky Wednesday!”
“I got six cards for the price of two. You should come with me next time.”
The other woman agreed to do so.
Before they could discuss their future Bingo plans, a baby shrieked in the restaurant for the third time in five minutes.
One of the women pierced her lips and leaned over to the family sitting at a table next to their own. She spoke to them in a conspiratorial whisper, but I could still hear her.
“One time I was out to dinner and a kid screamed just like that. Before the kid could finish that scream, a waitress popped a lollipop in the kid’s mouth.
Well, it worked, but there was a bigger problem.
Other kids saw her give that kid the sucker and then they began to shriek for their own. One child was quieted, only now the rest of ’em were screamin’.”
She began to chuckle and leaned back into her own booth, lost in her memories.
At Comic Con, I overheard the following snippets of conversation from numerous people:
I can’t wait for that pizza!
My feet hurt!
Greg has a strict rule of not working out the week before Comic Con.
Please keep moving there’s no stopping here.
I cannot wait for my paycheck (said by a security guard)
I had no idea it would be like this!
I try to tell her everyday but everyday she comes. So far she has been a loser all three days. There is no benefit to waiting hours and hours.
There are going to be many things that you want.
I could see her undercarriage!
I was at the doctor’s office and I overheard the following conversation between a grandmother and her four year old granddaughter:
“Now remember, when you are camping, pick your things up off of the floor! It is going to be crowded as it is and with the new baby and all of those diapers, there is not going to be a lot of room.”
“Grandma, did you ever wear diapers?”
A soft laugh and then, “Yes, but it was a very long time ago. And they were not the diapers they have today. In fact, your mom did not have those kind of diapers either.”
“What kind of diapers did you guys wear?”
“Well, they were cloth and we washed them.”
“But what did you do with the -” she whispered the last contents of that sentence but I think we can assume that it had to do with contents, too.
“We flushed it down the toilet.”
“Eeewwwwwwwww!!!”
The little girl had many more questions but the grandmother distracted her with questions of her new puppy. Which from the sound of that conversation, seemed like that puppy could have used some diapers of its own.
What did you overhear last month? Anything interesting? Did you find your iceberg detector?
If you missed last month’s “Overheard In,” you can find it here.
