(subtitle: Things you know you’ve never heard before)

I was walking along Tinakori Road in Wellington yesterday, during the annual Thorndon Fair. There were thousands of people walking around and buying - well - stuff.

As I wandered past a group of people in their twenties, one of them was saying, “...I just don’t get it. She’s the only woman I know with a combover…”

I wanted, I really wanted, to run up, grab him by the shoulders and shout, “Tell me more - this is fascinating.”

But I didn’t. I walked up to the next stall for some barbequed potatoes with aioli. I passed up a great story for food.

It was great aioli, though.

I love that. 

If you’re into that sort of thing, there’s a great little site called In Passing… where a girl who lives in Berkeley, CA records little snippets she hears.  Some of them are real gems. 

Nice!

My other favourite one was when I was living in Melbourne three years ago. I was walking up Little Collins Street on the way back to work and a gaggle of school girls were going the other way.

“She’s so strange. She’s got a cell-phone which she carries everywhere with her, but she never turns it on. What’s she trying to say?”

Obviously nothing…

A group of classmates and I were in Millwaukee, WI for a Construction Management competition between some colleges in our local region (BGSU, Purdue, Milwaukee School of Engineering, U of Cincinatti, etc.)  This happened to be around the time of the presidential election.

A few of us were enjoying the hotel’s lounge and throwing back some cold adult beverages when my friend next to me and I hear, “I don’t know what they were using, but *man*... took his head clean off.”  My friend leans over and asks, “Have you been listening to this?”  I asked the two gentlemen at the other end of the bar what they were talking about.  “Explosives.  Don’t worry, we’re in the Secret Service.”  The one replied.

We made them show thier ID’s to us, and found out that they were in charge of securing buildings along the tour Route for when George Bush came to town a few days later.

Reviving an old thread…

A friend of mine, who has what can only be said to be an impish sense of humour, likes to come out of lifts saying, “...and then there was a huge explosion and her leg blew off.”

In the supermarket yesterday, I heard a women talking to someone on her cell-phone: “The funeral’s not until Friday. Yes, I know it’s a long time, but it’s because it was manslaughter.”

This is one of those rare occasions when there can be too much information. I didn’t want to know any more. But then again…

Holy cow, this thread is from 6 years ago!

I knew I had left it somewhere!

I just wish I could eavesdrop on more amusing/bizarre conversations. But you have to admit, that last one was a doozy!