The Overheard List

Quotes you may have said.

When I heard the woman sitting next to me at the DMV whisper into her phone that she,“...ran into Jessica last week, and guess what? Her daughter is pregnant… again, do they not know how that all works?!”

I immediately opened Apple Notes on my phone and scrolled to one of my favorite lists: “Overheard” 

Overheard is the name of my ongoing Note where I jot down random quotes or things I hear from strangers and people I know. It’s a collection of quotes that I know someday, someway, somehow I will use in my future writing.

The list is filled with sayings, statements, and sentiments overheard in random places. Places like airports, and trendy New York coffee shops where I hear two older gentlemen say, “when I lived on the east side, going to Brooklyn was like going to Montana,” while enjoying a latte on a warm fall morning. 

The approach of filling out the Overheard list is something I think I’m subtle at. 

My husband says I’m not. 

But when in a public situation, I’m casually scanning the scene keeping my ears primed for the quote I need. 

My husband says I’m staring. 

But I’m mostly just looking. Directly, neck turned. Laser focused on the people I’m observing who are either hovering over their luggage, or enjoying their coffee,while I’m wide eyed prying into their personal conversations. 

My husband tells me I’m so obvious with my observations. 

But when I hear something good, I know it. There’s usually a physical reaction, like a gasp or an ‘ooh’ associated with my notice because whoever I’m watching will slowly look my way. And then I’m stuck either making eye contact as I’m fully tuned into their conversation or quickly turning away.

And there are times when the list is completed by people I know in everyday places I frequent, like living rooms of my husband's 81 year old grandmother, who tells with a straight face, ‘Wow, a 35th birthday coming up? That’s depressing.’ 

And I’ll pull out my phone and write it down. No dramatization, just the straight honest quote. 

And someday I’ll use these quotes in my next essay. They will bring it to life. They will make it POP… that is If I ever actually sit down to write something meaningful that isn’t the night before my personal deadline.

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TYSM to

Brooke Smith

for being the cutting queen, and for

Laura Haley

who always answers my text every Tuesday night (or Wednesday night) knowing that I’ll be asking her to edit my essay. LYLAS literally.