Whatever your feelings about cell phones and the people who use them to hold intimate or inane conversations in public, you got to admit---they've been a godsend to voyeurs and spies and the voyeurs and spies who call themselves writers.
Really. Before cell phones, you had to go to a bar and hang around all night to be sure you'd get to eavesdrop on a conversation like the one I just eavesdropped on in line at the post office.
Woman was on the phone with her boyfriend telling him about how she'd just got off the phone with her ex-husband who'd threatened to sic his lawyer on her. Apparently the boyfriend knows the ex-husband well enough to doubt that he has a lawyer. The woman assured the boyfriend that the ex-husband really did have a lawyer. She told him the lawyer's name. Tone she used suggested it was a name the boyfriend would know. I'm guessing in their circle people all draw from the same small pool of divorce attorneys. The boyfriend reacted vociferously to the lawyer's name.
The woman listened to him rant for a bit. Then she laughed affectionately and said, "No, don't call him! I don't want you to call him!" She listened again. "And, no, don't go over there either. I'll call him as soon as I'm done here. Ok? Great! Love you! Bye!"
I want to know though.
Was the boyfriend threatening to go beat up the ex-husband?
Or was he going to go beat up the lawyer?
It's like momentarily dropping in on a Raymond Carver short story, isn't it? For an instant, you get a glimpse into someone's most intimate life secrets, and then they're gone.
Posted by: Pope Buck I | Tuesday, October 31, 2006 at 12:19 PM
That's why I really don't like talking on a cell phone. I don't like anyone hearing anything I'm saying. I don't care if it's just me calling home from the grocery store wondering if we need milk. But, the problem is, I can't hear well on a cell phone, which means I *talk* louder. (Makes no sense, I know. It's like turning the radio down when you're lost.) So everyone can probably hear everything I'm saying anyway.
I should stop tuning out other people when they're on their cells. I'm missing scoop!
Posted by: blue girl | Tuesday, October 31, 2006 at 01:12 PM
My vote goes to the lawyer, and I blame Shakespeare (NOT his sister!).
Posted by: Linkmeister | Tuesday, October 31, 2006 at 01:19 PM
It's got to be the ex-husband because in my part of the world, the divorce lawyers who represent men tend to be women. In fact, divorce law is one field I predict where women will dominate.
Posted by: Exiled in New Jersey | Tuesday, October 31, 2006 at 02:00 PM
I think the lawyer.
The conversation I overheard last week while waiting for my daughter to finish her dance class was a woman talking to another woman who was pregnant and whose husband decided to satisfy his needs via nightly trips to the internet. I was 3 feet away from this woman and was trying really hard to focus on my magazine, but you could hear every word plus we were in a hall that echoed. The woman by me was trying to convince the woman that satisfying needs was really nothing worse that taking a magazine into the bathroom and then she launched into her husband's habits.
I tell you, I had an angel on one shoulder telling me to mind my own business and a devil on the other telling me to join the conversation.
Posted by: Jennifer | Tuesday, October 31, 2006 at 03:18 PM
This reminds me, last time I was in the States I got a voice mail on my US cell phone. It was intended for a guy named Moe and it was from his attorney, explaining in great detail that his girlfriend had gotten a restraining order against him, what that was, etc. I couldn't help but listen to the whole thing, vowing I'd steer clear of Moe if I ever encountered him.
Hey! I wonder if one of these guys you heard was named Moe?
Posted by: KathyF | Wednesday, November 01, 2006 at 02:14 AM
I was in a book store the other day and there was a woman talking on her cell phone very loudly. I shot her a look or two, not too dirty, as a means of suggesting she's disturbing the peace. Either she didn't get it or she didn't care. I wonder what her reaction would have been if I walked up to her and said "would you mind toning it down?" I realied I might be taking my life into my own hands doing that...
Posted by: Connie | Wednesday, November 01, 2006 at 08:01 AM
Oooops. I wrote thatlast comment with out my reading glasses on, and before my second cup of coffee. Bad idea!
Posted by: Connie | Wednesday, November 01, 2006 at 08:03 AM
You see. I did it again!
Posted by: Connie | Wednesday, November 01, 2006 at 08:04 AM
I'm hoping for the lawyer, too.
Posted by: mac macgillicuddy | Wednesday, November 01, 2006 at 07:43 PM