overheard on the train

slightly autistic-seeming man to wife in serious need of a good shampoo:

wife going on and on about a friend and husband says, "i think you're tired of one another."

he then proceeds to ask how it was going with the friend's "economic ruin." no way to tell if that was a general comment or a money pit of a house.

then, suddenly, out of the blue, unrelated to anything in the conversation up to that point, wife says, "i think we have a CO2 friendly life."

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"so i had a talk with simon at the end of the day. he admitted it hadn't been a good first month in the IT support job, but said it was ok because he had decided to leave to pursue his passion...(long pause)...birdwatching."

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what have you overheard lately?

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originally posted on the julie project - april 29, 2009

overheard at the airport

waiting at the baggage carrousel. mid-twenties, very casually-dressed american girl speaking loudly to her asian-looking, yet equally american colleague, as if everyone around them couldn't understand english, just because it was norway.

loudly talking about how they would conduct an investigation the next day, playing a tape and trying to get the witnesses to identify an unnamed perpetrator.

"we've got to get the ID, but if they can't make the ID, it's not the right guy," she declared loudly in her flat, nasal r's. "the pic on the news is way more influencing than our 6-pack."

i pondered briefly what a 6-pack might be. and mused on why she seemed to be speaking of such a potentially confidential thing in such a loud voice. did she really think no one standing there understood english? or was it just more innocent than it seemed.

then, her bag came. a really giant duffel which she could barely lift off the carrousel. her colleague asked what i was thinking, "you got a body in there?"

"government buys me one size bag, i'm gonna use it." she responds, struggling to lift it onto a cart.

and then they left. i'm still wondering what a 6-pack is in this context. and if this has anything to do with those planes transporting terror suspects that have been spotted all over poland, macedonia and other places. i thought that business was over under the new and improved administration. hmmm...you never know what you're going to hear while waiting for your bags.

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originally published april 27, 2009 on the julie project