overheardinboston

Overheard in a restaurant in Marina Bay

2008-08-24T17:23:00.001-04:00

"No, no, not like that. It's H-O-A-R."

America's game

2008-04-11T02:31:00.002-04:00

Fan A: "... your muscles look tight!"
Fan B: "like your mom"

- 2 Red Sox fans trying to get the attention of one of the Detroit Tiger warming up near the 3rd base line

"Rent-a-wreck" & "I got 'roid rage!"
- Detroit's Edgar Renteria proved a popular target for the fans tonight

Older and wiser

2008-02-02T17:30:00.000-05:00

Cashier 1: "I think that elderly sounds older than senior citizen"
Cashier 2: "I'd rather be called an old lady than a senior citizen"

-overheard in CVS in Dedham

2008-01-28T20:30:00.000-05:00

"I'm going to start charging for the view."

-patient in the ER curtain area next to my roommate when yet another doctor asked to see the problem area, which was located where the sun really don't shine

Hairy situation on the Orange Line

2008-01-16T21:49:00.000-05:00

"Hair fallin' out in chunks. That ain't stress... That is a HAIR MALFUNCTION!"

-loud Orange Line passenger on his cellphone (overheard by my boyfriend during his evening commute home)

(He arrived home and the first thing he said was "I have something you should post on Overheard in Boston!")

Food frenzy

2007-12-28T19:20:00.000-05:00

"... 3 sandwiches, fries, and 3 Happy Meals... a whole truckload of food here... "

-manager at a suburban McDonald's that was crawling with kids on vacation

2007-11-11T19:10:00.000-05:00

"There's this movie, Big, with Tom Hanks. And it's like... old."

-one young man to his friend in the Newbury Comics in Harvard Square

Shopper's paradise

2007-10-24T20:04:00.000-04:00

"...and all this shopping in Boston. Imagine that!"

-woman to her male companion as they strolled through Downtown Crossing

Wait, who?

2007-10-24T05:02:00.000-04:00

Two women walking in Copley Square:

First woman: Yeah, John Kerry was pro-choice when he was governor, but now he's suddenly anti-choice.

Second woman: Seriously. It's so frustrating.

Politcally incorrect?

2007-07-24T20:38:00.000-04:00

"I wish they'd just make him President already. Then maybe Barak Obama would finally shut up."
- nail salon patron, Franklin, MA

Trader Joe's may not love Jesus

2007-06-10T22:26:00.000-04:00

"You do see why the customers might feel threatened or harassed when they enter or leave the store and you're shouting at them about Jesus... and why they complained to the staff, who had to call us..."

-Brookline police officer to Jesus enthusiast outside Trader Joe's

(see pictures here)

no, those aren't style points

2007-05-18T23:32:00.000-04:00

Fenway Park scoreboard:
SCORE THAT PLAY
9

Young lady (whom I don't know) in seat next to mine: "Another one? Every time he catches it, they give him a 9."

- thursday night, in right-field grandstand seats, at red sox-tigers game

Sounds like a duck...

2007-02-04T16:34:00.000-05:00

"Quack quack!"

"Quack quack!"

-woman in Pho Lemongrass, Brookline

Copy-editing MBTA signs with Sharpie can't be overheard, but this is the next-best thing...

2007-01-19T13:34:00.000-05:00

On a green line train with a broken rollsign the other day as it pulled into Park Street:

Operator, over speaker: "THIS IS A HEATH STREET TRAIN. HEATH STREET. HEATH STREET. THIS IS A E. THIS IS A E. THIS IS A E."

Big urban Black guy, loud enough that the whole train could hear: "An E."

Operator: "THIS TRAIN DOES NOT GO TO KENMORE OR HYNES. THIS IS A E."

Guy, loudly: "An E."

Then, under his breath: "DAY-um." *shakes head in irritation*

Scents of Boston

2006-12-10T21:35:00.000-05:00

"...the guy behind me was smelling my hair the whole time I was on the train."

-overheard on the Silver Line

A shut-door policy

2006-11-28T16:53:00.000-05:00

Coworker in hallway to other coworker: "Y'ever start to launch into a tirade, then you realize it's one you should have your door shut for, only you can't excuse yourself to go close the door, because, uh yeah?"

I thought I misheard... sadly, I was wrong

2006-11-17T19:11:00.000-05:00

"I'd like two bagels, toasted with cream cheese, one with bacon and one with sausage."

-woman in front of me at a bagel store, asking for the grossest combo of bagel toppings I've ever heard. My stomach turned just watching the counterperson put that order together.

I'm not sure you two NEED any alcohol...

2006-10-15T10:53:00.000-04:00

Two young gals walking down Brighton Ave in Allston on Friday night. One says to the other:

"That's what happens when you try to go into a bar and you're under 21, ASS."

You make a better door than, uh, an escalator?

2006-10-06T13:06:00.000-04:00

Woman at North Station today, after the orange line train had been taken out of service there and people poured out onto the platform and stood right there at the base of the escalator to wait for the next train, oblivious to the fact that some of us might have wanted to exit the station:

"Fawk! Ya people gotta move. Da ya people not realize this is an escalatah, not a fuckin doah?"

Frats rule!

2006-10-02T21:50:00.000-04:00

"TKE was the first party I went to..."

-said by a college student with poor taste in parties at Carlo's in Allston

Dinnertime musings

2006-08-21T19:10:00.000-04:00

Overheard at a tapas restaurant in Brookline:

Man: "Why aren't you a lawyer? I mean, you like to argue and stuff..."
Woman: "No I don't"

A very Brady market

2006-08-07T19:38:00.000-04:00

In Shaw's this morning. A woman calls to her three young daughters:

"Marcia! Jan! C'mon..... Cindy, get over here!"

Is she Asian?

2006-08-07T16:55:00.000-04:00

"Nah, dude. I think she's American Indian, but that doesn't really matter to me. "

-from a passing car at Orient Heights

So no one told you it was gonna be this way.

2006-08-04T22:11:00.000-04:00

Outside of Redbones in Davis Square, a group of people discussing a coworker:

Girl: Recently he came to work and said: "Guess what I watched last night for the first time? 'Seinfeld'. It was good. It was really good.

Guy #1: He's always a few years behind when it becomes to pop culture. He watched the second Matrix after the first and didn't understand any of it.

Guy #2: I remember someone in the office had a poster for the TV show "Friends", and he asked her, "Wow, is that a picture of your real friends?"

The Devil Wears Mismatched Prints

2006-07-23T08:54:00.000-04:00

Approximately 8-year-old girl to mommy: "Adult books have such weird names!"

Mommy: "Hmmmmmmm."

--Barnes and Noble, Walpole

Orange Line musings

2006-07-22T19:57:00.000-04:00

"He was uber-hairy" -said by a woman sitting across from me, speaking about some guy who reminded her of a Yeti

It's raining crazies

2006-07-22T19:53:00.000-04:00

Crazy utterances on Boylston St. this rainy afternoon:
"It's your fault!... Did you see that?!... Hey!... You did this!" -said by the man walking behind me (who definitely was not talking on a Bluetooth headset)

"Bullshit! Bullshit! Bullshit!" -crazy guy #2, a little farther down Boylston St., yelling, gesturing wildly, and pushing a cart of some sort

Waves

2006-07-20T22:10:00.000-04:00

"Did you know that when you're surfing the inside of the wave is called 'The Green Room'?"

-a VERY* loud guy at Pho Lemongrass last Thursday to the unidentified middle aged woman he was sitting with

*the people at a nearby table kept loudly shushing him

Can you overhear me now?

2006-07-18T14:13:00.000-04:00

"HELLO?! HELLO?! HELLO?! I'M ON THE TRAIN. HELLO?! HELLO?! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!"

~ Big loud guy on the Orange Line around noon today, while the train was in the downtown tunnels. A few others looked at their phones to see if there was remotely any reception (uh, nope), then actually started laughing, glancing around, and exchanging "what the..." glances with fellow riders.

Judging beer

2006-07-16T19:08:00.000-04:00

Overheard in a Boston courthouse...

Judge arraigns Defendant for drinking in public on a South End sidewalk. Judge reads over the police report...

Judge: "Where are you from?"
Defendant: "Uh, I was born in Newton."
Judge: "No, no. I mean, where did you grow up? Where are you from?"
Defendant: "I went to high school and college in South Florida."
Judge: "Yeah. That's what I thought. No one from around here would drink Coors."

Welcome to Overheard in Boston

2006-07-14T10:19:00.000-04:00

This is indeed a blatant rip-off of great piecemeal blogs such as Overheard in New York, the Office and the Beach. They're brilliant, and I don't want to wait for the creators of OHINY to get around to creating one in Boston. So, before anyone wants to snark on this as a copy-cat blog, I admit it is, but imitation in this case is the sincerest form of flattery.

Anyone is free to post, but needs to be invited. Please send e-mail to join. This is also not limited to Boston's city limits, since it would be silly to also have Overheard in Newton and Overheard in Hingham, etc. Just follow the format, and be as specific in the location as possible, because that is sometimes just as funny as the quote itself, or it provides excellent context.

Cheers!

New York Times art(less) section

2006-07-14T07:30:00.000-04:00

Middle-aged wealthy woman: Sometimes I read the New York Times arts section and I wonder, where are the arts?

Middle-aged wealthy woman with chunky glasses: I know!

--Petit Robert Bistro, South End