{"id":21073,"date":"2015-08-22T13:48:22","date_gmt":"2015-08-22T20:48:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=21073"},"modified":"2021-05-25T14:40:32","modified_gmt":"2021-05-25T21:40:32","slug":"snippets-of-conversations-beguile-titillate-and-shock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/snippets-of-conversations-beguile-titillate-and-shock\/","title":{"rendered":"Snippets of conversations beguile, titillate and shock"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Writer Woody Weingarten wishes he had ears like this fennec fox so he could overhear more juicy delicacies.<\/p><\/div>\n

Unlike our federal government, I don\u2019t snoop.<\/p>\n

Unlike countless other organizations, I do no surveillance \u2014 electronic or other.<\/p>\n

Unlike cable news networks and Wikipedia, I don\u2019t spread misinformation, gossip or rumors.<\/p>\n

But I do grab snippets of t\u00eate-\u00e0-t\u00eates from restaurants, park benches and street corners.<\/p>\n

And, because what I overhear might end up as fodder for a column, I typically jot down what I catch. This, in fact, is the third compilation of succulent morsels I\u2019ve picked up.<\/p>\n

Perhaps these delicacies will beguile, titillate or shock you \u2014 maybe even as much as they did me.<\/p>\n

To wit\u2026<\/p>\n

While asking questions at Town Hall about a new neighbor\u2019s construction project, I overhead a nearby San Anselmo employee say, \u201cI absolutely need to unwind, un-stress and un-overload.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m done with him,\u201d said a teen girl in the Marin General lobby the week before. \u201cHe\u2019s now just a speck in my litter box of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outside Trader Joe\u2019s in San Rafael, a sly geezer declared \u2014 albeit a little too publicly \u2014 to his vastly younger female companion, \u201cI have a feeling some prankster put crushed Viagra in my miso soup at lunch.\u201d<\/p>\n

A long-haired, college-age guy philosophized outside The Bicycle Works co-op in San Anselmo: \u201cWe all know what to do about Killer Bees, but how can we handle Killer Sharks \u2014 you know, those anti-middle-class Wall Street venture-capitalist types \u2014 or the Killer Publicists, the marketers who clutter up popular films with irrelevant product placements, or Killer Second Amendmenters, those pro-gun jerks who think every kid\u2019s room should be stocked with an Uzi?\u201d<\/p>\n

Addressing a diner who\u2019d obviously over-tipped, an elated server in Il Fornaio in Corte Madera gushed, \u201cGrazie, merci, danke, arigatou, toda and asante. Oh, I forgot \u2014 thanks a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

A dowager in deep blue dress, diamond necklace and studs outside Mag\u2019s Local Yogurt shop in Larkspur lapped up some vanilla one sunny p.m. \u201cI\u2019m supporting Carly Fiorina and<\/em> Marco Rubio,\u201d she said, \u201cand have donated to both their campaigns. I\u2019m also speaking for them locally, sort of reversing things by putting my mouth where my money is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cArguing with a spouse,\u201d one mid-lifer in front of the Fairfax police station said to another, \u201cis like having a nuclear war \u2014 nobody wins.\u201d<\/p>\n

I heard, in the Post Office in Ross, a sentence that could never apply to a compulsive-obsessive neatnik, maker of priority lists and lint picker-upper like me: \u201cHe\u2019s having a real romance with disorder.\u201d<\/p>\n

But I agree with the disheveled mother who chided her ear-budded son outside Bananas at Large in San Rafael, \u201cOnce there were songs; now there\u2019s only noise.\u201d<\/p>\n

And I definitely could share a grin with the gray-haired gent in pristine white shirt, power tie, filthy sneakers and tattered jeans in San Anselmo\u2019s library who proclaimed, \u201cI love it that I\u2019m old enough to still appreciate \u2014 in the face of all this damned technology \u2014 paper clips, rubber bands and a plunger.\u201d<\/p>\n

Decked-out matron watching road construction in Mill Valley with a gal-pal: \u201cThese days more than ever, perseverance trumps perspiration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cynical senior in Fairfax\u2019s Good Earth Natural Foods generalized,\u00a0 \u201cThose that can, do; those that can\u2019t become politicians.\u201d<\/p>\n

A twenty-something father, near the stone dinosaur at Millennium Park in San Anselmo, appeared to be wasting some psychology on his toddler daughter, \u201cOkay, don\u2019t have fun. Don\u2019t have any<\/em> fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matronly blonde outside Luther Burbank Savings in San Rafael was waving her arms in a friend\u2019s face: \u201cOur government has definitely completed its wrong-headed transition from the Gold Standard to an Ink Standard. The only question remaining is: How much money can The Fed print?\u201d<\/p>\n

A young guy with an unusually high forehead had collared\u00a0\u00a0 a sidekick at Drake High School, \u201cThere\u2019s only one word to describe her \u2014 feckless.\u201d<\/p>\n

Loaded down with books on the Kentfield campus of the College of Marin, a student was chatting with his clingy girlfriend. \u201cA few minutes ago John was quoting \u2018The Huffington Post,\u2019 then Wikipedia. That\u2019s cool. But I\u2019m still hoping he\u2019ll really go retro and quote \u2018Esquire\u2019 or \u2018Elle.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally, while munching on a delicacy at Terra Linda\u2019s High Tech Burrito, a Millennial said to a worker cleaning tables, \u201cWould your family be the basis of a soap opera, sitcom or reality show? Mine could be all three.\u201d<\/p>\n

Contact Woody Weingarten at voodee@sbcglobal.net<\/a> or check out his blog at www.vitalitypress.com\/<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unlike our federal government, I don\u2019t snoop. Unlike countless other organizations, I do no surveillance \u2014 electronic or other. Unlike cable news networks and Wikipedia, I don\u2019t spread misinformation, gossip…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":3.4,"yasr_post_is_review":"yes","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-21073","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-woody-weingarten"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"