I’ll admit that eavesdropping is a problem of mine.
I can’t help it. I find people fascinating. I’ll read the obituaries from time to time and marvel at the lives that some people lead. I’m sure I’ve bored many people with stories about my own life that I think are amazing, but are likely less so.
(“No, seriously, there used to be an Acapulco there. I ate there my very first day in LA.”)
Anyway, I wasn’t trying to listen in, but a very loud talking woman marched by me on my way to lunch today, talking to somebody through her headphones.
“…and if anything were to happen to you and Dave, I’d take them in a heartbeat…”
Whoa. That’s a heavy conversation, right?
This woman is offering to raise her friend’s (sister’s?) kids for her if her husband and her should come to a tragic end. That’s serious.
But, it didn’t FEEL that serious.
I mean, the woman was marching up this hilly street I work on, wearing shorts and one of those visors. I’m pretty sure she had ankle weights on. She was definitely swinging her arms in that power walking way that lets you know she’s serious about losing that last five pounds.
Like… Was she PREPARING for her friend’s demise? Hustling up that hill to make sure she had the lung capacity to keep up with this kids?
Was this a carefully planned conversation to plant the seed needed to be named the custodian of the children when the official papers were drawn up?
What if she was getting in shape so she could handle the daring double-murder she was planning once the kids were definitively assigned to her.
Or, maybe she was talking to herself and the headphones weren’t even connected to her phone? Maybe this was a rehearsal for the time the conversation was really going to happen.
I mean, would you really talk about something so serious over the phone? What if you switched cell towers at the wrong time and they mistook your silence for disinterest in their kids?
Why don’t you love them enough to have this conversation face to face?
Seriously, lady, what’s your problem!
Okay. Let’s take a breath. I suppose it’s possible they were talking about watching the dogs or feeding some goldfish.
Like I said: I probably shouldn’t eavesdrop so much.
I also don’t trust anybody in ankle weights.
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Photo credit: blondinrikard via Foter.com / CC BY
