I am a snoop.

I love house tours, shows about real estate and obnoxious renovations, and multifamily garage sales. If I were a criminal investigator, I’d specialize in junk drawer profiling.

But you don’t need such intimate access to people’s lives to become fascinated by them.

Our everyday speech is pretty mundane and repetitive, on the surface. It’s why TV dialogue is always way more succinct than any real-life conversation… and why TV characters never say “hello” and “goodbye” when they’re on a phone!

When I’m out in the world, I love the little glimpse I get into other people’s worlds through their conversations. It could be two strangers who strike something up in line or two old friends catching up, weaving new strands in a rich tapestry between them.

And I always want more! How is her day going? What did happen to the cousin? How was his European river tour?

Writing Prompt

Build a scene or a story or a poem from one of these overheard phrases (most of which I picked up at a suburban Panera… take that for what it’s worth):

• “They say it pays for itself.
• “Are you Sheila?”
• “Here’s another old church.”
• “Is Linda back there?”

P.S.

An accidentally-hilarious couplet I overheard once:

“Wait, are you still seeing that chiropractor?”
“Yeah, I decided to give him one more crack.”