I started reading Overheard in New York long before I moved here and started overhearing things myself. When I first started working in New York, I didn’t actually spend much time immersed in public spaces, and after I finally became an official resident, I listened to my iPod or talked on the phone practically at all time while I waited for or rode the subway, shopped or wandered city streets and the park. When do people have a chance to overhear each other in this town?
Overhearing is an art. You can’t perk up your ears and start canvassing for material. The purest way to overhear is to not be listening. If your aural personal space is invaded by another person’s wit, humor, ignorance or stupidity, you can legitimately lay claim to their words and submit them to the site as the overhearer.
I sent in a handful of conversation clips and one-liners over the summer when I started walking a different set of streets in Chelsea and Greenwich Village almost every night after work and spent a lot of time exploring new Brooklyn neighborhoods on my own. The city kept me company and I didn’t use my iPod or my cell quite as much (yeah, the batteries kept dying.)
I had pretty much given up on seeing any of those quotes in “print” when I got an e-mail from Overheard at the beginning of last week: “The quote you submitted . . . Look for it on the site!” I was so excited to type the URL and scroll down, skimming for my name, wondering which one, which one?
Five-year-old: Ella, ella, ella, ella, ella, ella…
Suit dad: Alright, look! I don’t know what that means, but if it’s a bad word I want you to stop saying it!–F train, 23rd St
I think it was one of the first quotes I submitted and not only was it posted on the site, the editors used it for the weekly headline contest. Nobody consulted me in regards to naming the winner, but I think the editors made the right choice.
If overhearing is an art form, then this piece is a true collaboration. I’d like to thank Five-year-old for getting that song stuck in everybody’s head (Rihanna probably deserves props, too) and her Suit Dad and for projecting his frustration at such a high volume and Lou P. for his witty headline, even if he completely missed the pop music reference.
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