My friend, Joe De Felice, and I used to do all kinds of random stuff. One of our favorite things to do was to people watch and try to guess people’s names.
It was a great litmus test of potential friends or girlfriends too, because even without knowing the person’s real identity… there were right and wrong answers.
Consider this picture below (obtained from http://www.public-domain-photos.com):
Now, I have no idea what the real names of the people in the picture are or what their story is; however, if Joe or I were to ask you what you think the people’s names were and to provide some backstory… we don’t want to hear “the boy’s name is ‘Mike’ and the lady’s name is ‘Susan,’ and I dunno, I guess he’s singing and she’s playing piano.”
We would be looking for something more along the lines of the boy’s name is “Nathaniel,” and the woman at the piano is “Helen.” With a story like “Nathaniel’s parents are big fans of American Idol and they are grooming Nathaniel to be a contestant once he turns 16. Here we see him singing “Music of the Night” from Phantom of the Opera, at a local talent show. Helen is the pianist hired by the talent show producers to accompany all the singers, and she isn’t a big fan of Nathaniel. She finds Nathaniel to be pretenious and is actually hoping that the kid who can the balance a rake on his chin while hula hooping two hoops will win.”
Okay, so maybe that’s not the best example, but we used to sit on the bus or walk through town or work at the Village Market and create fantastic anecdotes about what were probably a very ordinary group of people. [Note to self, but write about the VM in a future blog]
So anyway while at Simply Syndicated last night, I found this post by “Jakob” (any edits to language are my own):
The other day I was walking behind a guy talking on his cell phone. His side of the conversation was:
“You did what?… you left your shirt and belt there?!… how did you manage that?… oh it was after that?… right… I guess you wanted to get out of there as fast as you could?… oh, you had to go to church… that makes sense…”
My curiosity was piqued to say the least. Mandi and I were coming up with variations on the other half of the conversation. Good times. “
And in the days since his original post, people have been taking turns filling in the blanks
a:
b: You did what?
a:
b: You left your shirt and belt there?
a:
b: How did you manage that?
a:
b: Oh, it was after that?
a:
b: Right.
a:
b: I guess you wanted to get out of there as fast as your could?
a:
b: Oh, you had to go to church?
a:
b: That makes sense.
For example: (by GAB)
a: I shaved all the fur off your cat’s tail.
b: You did what?’
a: You heard me. I did it over at mom’s place – fur everywhere! Ever since then, I’ve been driving around topless and holding my pants up.
b: You left your shirt and belt there?
a: Didn’t have a choice. Little furball ripped the shirt to shreds, but I tied her down.
b: How did you manage that?
a: The belt. It’s still rigged to the faucet on the bathtub in mom’s bathroom. I didn’t want to leave it, you know, but since mom had just kicked dad out of the house…
b: Oh, it was after that?
a: Yeah. She told you then. I got there when she was leaving to meet an attorney or something. So, I got in with Barbarella while she was home and I realized later when I put Barbarella back in the car that mom had changed the locks on me, too. I still had the old key.
b: Right.
a: Didn’t seem right to leave all the fur in her bathroom, so I tried to get in through the back but I somehow managed to set off the alarm system.
b: I guess you wanted to get out of there as fast as your could?
a: Wouldn’t you? Plus, I was already late getting over to St. Japeth of the Waves.
b: Oh, you had to go to church?
a: Of course. Barbarella is going to be the female opossum in the children’s play about Noah and the Ark. Dress rehearsal started at 3 p.m.
b: That makes sense.
It’s silly, I know, but when I found the post, I immediately thought of Joe and (to quote Jakob) the “good times.”
Contributed by: Scott Copperman (Guest Author)
Tags: By Scott Copperman