overheard on the metro
ORANGE LINE--NEW CAROLLTON---WEST FALLS CHURCH STATION, 0900 Thursday
MAN walks onto train, talking loudly
MAN (bellowing): ...so how big is it? Eighteen inches? (a silence) Must be a mortar bomb or a bazooka rocket.....Look, I think you should call the Fairfax County Police....(silence)....what color is it? light blue? I'm pretty sure it's inert....DON'T TOUCH IT....does it have any writing on it? any WRITING? .....he was an airman......OH. It could be a practice...a PRACTICE BOMB.....hello? (train roars into tunnel between East Falls Church and Ballston)