Overheard in the Terminal III
Scene: Chicago O’Hare, Winter 2005
Girl 1: About 16 years old, Asian, appears to be a foreign exchange student
Girl 2: About 16 years old, American
Girl 1 is sitting quietly in the gate, waiting to board her flight. Girl 2 is eating Mentos and reading Newsweek Magazine. On the cover is a picture of Martha Stewart.
Girl 1: It is late.
Girl 2: Yeah, I’m tired. Do you want some Mentos? I love them.
Girl 1: No. Who is that?
Girl 2: Her? That’s Martha Stewart. Have you ever heard of her?
Girl 1 shakes her head no.
Girl 2: Well, Martha Stewart is a billionaire who made all her money by doing homemaking stuff. Do you know what that is?
Girl 1 shakes her head no.
Girl 2: Well, homemaking is basically like cooking and sewing and entertaining. She has a TV show and a magazine and writes all kinds of books. Anyway, she was accused of insider trading. Do you know what that is?
Girl 1 shakes her head no.
Girl 2: Well, it’s essentially like a white collar crime. You probably don’t know what that means. White collar crime is like when business people commit crimes or do insider trading or steal money from their companies. They call it white collar because business people usually wear white shirts and ties. Anyway. So she was arrested for insider trading a couple months ago and apparently she’s getting out of prison next week. Do you understand?
Girl 1 shakes her head yes.
Girl 2: But I could really care less.
Filed under: General on April 1st, 2005
April 1st, 2005 at 10:24 am
I was expecting that to go very badly, but I’m actually proud of the American teenager for even knowing what she knew… I don’t know if I could have explained it that well.
April 1st, 2005 at 11:01 am
See – that’s just it! She was far more informed and articulate than most adults are. But then to retain her coolness, she threw in the last line. It was beautiful.
April 1st, 2005 at 11:03 am
Oh – and I’m glad to see you changed your name. One down, several hundred million to go.
April 1st, 2005 at 1:18 pm
Wow. There is hope for the future! I am totally impressed that she knew half of that at 16. I love your overheard conversations. haha
April 1st, 2005 at 1:35 pm
I just tested my 12-year-old son. He didn’t know what white collar crime means. I suppose that’s a good thing.
April 1st, 2005 at 3:55 pm
So, do you write all this down while you’re in earshot? It’s fascinating. Your observational powers are impressive. Isn’t is amazing, though, how much blogging material you can get from just taking note of those around you? Thanks for another great entry!
April 1st, 2005 at 3:55 pm
So, do you write all this down while you’re in earshot? It’s fascinating. Your observational powers are impressive. Isn’t is amazing, though, how much blogging material you can get from just taking note of those around you? Thanks for another great entry!
April 1st, 2005 at 7:56 pm
Because I was stuck at the gate for quite a while, I was writing while sitting there. It’s a bit harder to get away with that in the elevator…
And Robert, if your 12-year old had known what a white collar crime was, I’d say he had a good future as a CEO. Consider yourself lucky!
April 3rd, 2005 at 12:07 pm
Love your blog. It looks great and your posts are terrific.