eavsdropping - I love it

So I'm in Pizza Hut. I've been dragged in, really. A slave to SuBr's craving for a can of coke. When I say Pizza Hut, you probably think of the standard, red-roofed restaurant, suburbs-style. But no, this place is solely a take-out joint - sandwiched between what I think is a copy centre and a hair salon, it's about the size of a postage stamp. There's a bench and four stools on the wall across from the cash register, but that's about it. When we walk in (in search of cold carbonated coke in a can), there are three what I'm going to call 19-year-olds sitting on the stools (boy, boy, girl), sharing a hawaiian pizza, and one lank-haired not-so-clean-looking forty-something dude who is CLEARLY eavsdropping on the painfully earnest 19-year-old conversation.

SuBr proceeds to ring the bell in search of counter staff to help her with her beverage craving, so I decide to watch the scene unfolding on the wall of stools. The older dude is highly enjoying the conversation. The kids are pretty hippy-looking, probably first year sociology majors, you know the type (heh). As I watch, the older dude repeatedly tries to make eye-contact with the kids. He's very keen to join in their conversation. He's absolutely itching to share his opinion, I can tell. After eye-contact doesn't really work, he leans in on the counter and blatantly takes an 'I'm totally listening to what you're saying' pose, occasionally nodding his head in agreement with the inspired prose that bubbles from their youthful lips like coke from SuBr's can.

SuBr recieves and pays for her coke, and as we're leaving, I was treated to this bit of inspired conversational genius:

19-yearold boy1: "His new album, it's just, you know, things are like, totally fucked."

19-yearold boy2, chewing: "dude"

19-yearold girl: "I know. And what about those stretch SUVs? (complete non sequitir, btw) They're just so....like, evil. Every time I see one I want to barf."

older dude, forcefully, very excited to finally find his opening: "Man, that is just ....SO BEAUTIFUL!"


I'd have to agree with him.