Eavesdropping

So the other day, my Creative Writing lecturer told us she wanted all of us to eavesdrop on a conversation in order to get a better understanding of dialogue… and, frankly, just because it’s interesting. That’s right, the secret’s out, writers are listening to what you say on the bus and probably not using any of it, because here’s what I’ve learned:

You’re all incredibly boring.

Okay, that’s a little rude. You’re not. In fact, in the context of talking on a bus, I probably am as much as anyone else. But sometimes I feel like I hear the same speech patterns over and over. Somewhere towards the back of the bus, Roxie is asking, “Is he with you? Is he with you? No no, don’t tell him I’m here, pretend I’m your mum. Yeah, very good. Hey, has he said anything about me? …no you see that’s what I thought but, but not being funny right, that what he said about Janine is bang out of order… yeah, no, I get that. Yeah. No, I do. Look, can you tell him I’m with Harry right now? Yeah. Well no obviously, but… yeah, exactly.” And I’m not making fun of that type of person, because everyone’s entitled to their own way of life. But I hear that exact conversation with different names on different buses. It’s amusing but mostly predictable.

So here I am, still looking out for some interesting tidbit of eavesdropping which I can present to class next week. It’s surprisingly difficult to find anything really juicy and interesting out there. I mean, I heard a heartwarming exchange between an old man and a young woman on a bus (surprise surprise) the other day, for she was genuinely interested in what he had to say. I might use that, if I’ve got nothing else. I just can’t find anything. Maybe I need to be more of a gossip.

I thought I’d pick up something interesting when I went to Devcon this weekend. (Think Comic Con, only much more local and much, much smaller. Big turnout though.) However, I spent most of my attention span on my friends and the possible buying opportunities in front of us. (In the end, I only bought a tiny little Bulbasaur figure. I was frugal!) One amusing moment was heard when we were waiting in line; there were two children behind us arguing as to whether the bounty hunter patrolling the line was Boba Fett or Jango Fett. In actuality he was neither; he was either custom painted or a character from the extended universe, which I know almost nothing about. But it as fun to hear them arguing all the same.

Whilst it’s not quite the same thing, I feel obliged to pick up the topic of people-watching now. I’m an avid person-watcher. People are fascinating. Sometimes they’ll amble along to a window, frown at it, walk away, and then change their minds, awkwardly doing a 180 and hoping that nobody has noticed their sacrilegious indecision. I see people waiting for their friends, pretending to text on their phone because it is quite obviously a social law that one may not wait around for someone without being seen to still be busy talking to somebody else. (I, too, am guilty of doing this.) People-watching at places of transit is especially interesting! Reading the expressions of somebody who is about to get on a train can be fun, so long as they don’t look your way and eye-contact is established. Then it’s the most terrible thing in the world… people-watching is not without danger.

But what’s most amusing about people-watching is that, despite the fact that you’re probably the only person observing them, people are entirely concerned about how everyone in the vicinity is judging them, and thus act accordingly.