Overheard in D.C.: Valentine's Cheer
Valentine's Day causes a lot of strong reactions. There are those who think it's sweet, a nice time to take your significant other out for a nice meal, give them some flowers and chocolate, have fun, and show them you care. Then there are those who think it's a crass marketing holiday perpetuated by Hallmark and chocolate companies where you're supposed to buy things you wouldn't normally get, eat an overpriced meal, and that it's dumb to have a particular day to tell somebody you love them.
Maybe everyone should just listen to Metro operators. Especially if they use lots of newspaper metaphors.
Quote of the Week:
On the Blue/Orange line between Eastern Market and Capitol South:
Train operator: "To all my ladies, when you go home, if you don't get a $500 flower bouquet, $5000 Godiva chocolates, get up off your couch, go the closest mirror, and dry your eyes. Remember, you ladies, you have that real sugar.
Guys, I have something for you too. Valentine's Day is like the Washington Post; if you don't get it now, you never will."
(Later, at L'enfant Plaza)
"If you are getting off, men, what section of the paper are you? A sports hero, or in the classifieds because she is looking for someone else."
After the jump, self-medication, Dr. Seuss, and thoughtful homeless programs.
Keep your ears open and your email flowing to overheardindc(at)gmail(dot)com
Photo by monavano
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Phish fans: no mental problems.
After work at a Dupont bar:
Guy 1: "I go to a psychiatrist on my lunch hour on Tuesdays, is that weird to you?"
Guy 2: "Not really, lots of people have psychiatrists."
Guy 1: "Do you?"
Guy 2: "Um, no. I smoke pot."
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Get this man canvassing!
Friday night, outside Asylum on 18th Street about 9 PM:
The Obama campaign was making a lot of ruckus on the corner of 18th and Columbia.
An obese, tattooed, tank-top wearing bouncer, early 20s: "If I wasn't a felon, I wouldn't vote for Obama."
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Exactitude
On the 42 bus:
Guy: "I bought her a present and I was like 12 to 14 percent sure she'd like it... "
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It wasn't in the Cliffs Notes
In a high school library:
"Young man, The Cat in the Hat has nothing to do with Black History Month."
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The night was going well, until he gave her a Dora the Explorer doll at dinner.
Valentine's Day in the flower section at the Tenleytown Whole Foods:
About 20 confused looking guys are doing last minute flower shopping.
Father in his mid/late 30s on the phone: "Hey Billy, it's Daddy. What is Mommy's favorite color?"
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Extra Tasty Crispy or Soylent Green?
In the KFC/Taco Bell line at 14th and U NW:
Guy #1: "...I want to build a big house for all the homeless to keep
them off the streets."
Guy #2: "Yeah, and then you could just arrest anyone caught out of it."
Guy #1: "Well, you couldn't arrest them. Think of the overcrowding and the cost of processing them all."
Guy #2: "Oh yeah."
(pause)
Guy #1: "You know what we need? Some kind of machine that turns them into fertilizer."
Guy #2: "Yeah."
(pause)
Guy #1: "You getting chicken or tacos?"
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Sounds like a romantic comedy. What's Matthew McConaughey doing now?
On Super Bowl Sunday in a bar in Rockville
Two early 20-somethings trying to convince skeptical friends that they are not a relationship waiting to happen.
Female: "Actually, it might be interesting for us to have a wedding just so I can say, no Jack, I DON'T do!"
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They're not even singing
Outside the Recognize! hip hop art exhibit in the National Portrait Gallery last Saturday:
One middle aged white woman to another: "I don't get it."