Overheard in Harvard Square and other Locations
Today in Harvard Square:
Said by a tall blond 20-something woman walking past me in the other direction:
"No, I don't think she's a lesbian. I'm not that lucky."
Said by one of two young men who were sitting on a bench outside a store, looking at a tourist map of Harvard Square. "I don't care WHAT the f**king 'townie' said, we are nowhere NEAR campus. We have to go THAT way," at that point he made a wild gesture in a direction that, if followed a few blocks, would lead them to the Charles river, the exact opposite direction they'd need to go to get to Harvard Yard.
Yesterday:
I was getting on a very crowded train at North Quincy station, and an elderly man squeezed on. He looked around and got increasingly alarmed before pushing hurriedly past everyone to get back out again saying "Too many Asians." The young Chinese couple he'd squeezed between to get on the train watched him leave. They turned to look at each other when the door closed.
The man said, "I kinda wish he hadn't made it off."
The woman replied in Chinese and both of them laughed.
Last Friday Morning:
I was fiddling with my phone when the train started moving. I noticed a woman staring at me open mouthed.
"Yes," I asked.
"How do you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Stand on the train without holding on."
I realized both my hands has been occupied with my phone when the train had started moving. "Oh, that," I said. "Six years of commuting by train I suppose."
She looked to her right at a woman about her own age and said, "Woooah."
The two of them watched me until their stop about ten minutes later.
Last week during the commute home:
My coworker had given me two massive bags of apple-pears from his tree in his backyard. I ended up taking them home by public transit. They were heavy and my shoulders were sore. I was on the train and my stop was approaching. I stood up laboriously and groaned a bit when I picked up the two huge bags of pears. A woman I'd been sitting next to made a disgusted sound and said "Excuse me?" in a very offended voice. I looked towards her and saw she was staring right at me.
"Miss," I said, "I'm a fat man carrying 90 pounds of pears. Of COURSE I grunted when I stood up. Get over yourself."
She flushed red and stuck her nose back in her Kindle.
Said by a tall blond 20-something woman walking past me in the other direction:
"No, I don't think she's a lesbian. I'm not that lucky."
Said by one of two young men who were sitting on a bench outside a store, looking at a tourist map of Harvard Square. "I don't care WHAT the f**king 'townie' said, we are nowhere NEAR campus. We have to go THAT way," at that point he made a wild gesture in a direction that, if followed a few blocks, would lead them to the Charles river, the exact opposite direction they'd need to go to get to Harvard Yard.
Yesterday:
I was getting on a very crowded train at North Quincy station, and an elderly man squeezed on. He looked around and got increasingly alarmed before pushing hurriedly past everyone to get back out again saying "Too many Asians." The young Chinese couple he'd squeezed between to get on the train watched him leave. They turned to look at each other when the door closed.
The man said, "I kinda wish he hadn't made it off."
The woman replied in Chinese and both of them laughed.
Last Friday Morning:
I was fiddling with my phone when the train started moving. I noticed a woman staring at me open mouthed.
"Yes," I asked.
"How do you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Stand on the train without holding on."
I realized both my hands has been occupied with my phone when the train had started moving. "Oh, that," I said. "Six years of commuting by train I suppose."
She looked to her right at a woman about her own age and said, "Woooah."
The two of them watched me until their stop about ten minutes later.
Last week during the commute home:
My coworker had given me two massive bags of apple-pears from his tree in his backyard. I ended up taking them home by public transit. They were heavy and my shoulders were sore. I was on the train and my stop was approaching. I stood up laboriously and groaned a bit when I picked up the two huge bags of pears. A woman I'd been sitting next to made a disgusted sound and said "Excuse me?" in a very offended voice. I looked towards her and saw she was staring right at me.
"Miss," I said, "I'm a fat man carrying 90 pounds of pears. Of COURSE I grunted when I stood up. Get over yourself."
She flushed red and stuck her nose back in her Kindle.