An admission: I eavesdrop. A lot. Not because I’m particularly nosy, but because I find the random things people talk about when they think no one’s listening endlessly entertaining. OK, I guess that counts as nosy. Sue me. Sometimes it’s worth it.
Saturday afternoon found me in my favorite North End caffé, enjoying an espresso and reading. A late middle-aged couple sat next to me, ordered coffee and grappa, and began chatting. She sported short hair, dyed, and a vaguely athletic style, and was bit younger than he. He, dressed in a forest green shirt, a bit paunchy, with white, wavy hair, reminded me a bit of a character actor. The life and times of the over 50s are usually safe from my eavesdropping ministrations, but my ears perked right up when I heard what they were talking about.
“Yeah, it’s sad, really. Tragic. These poor people think they are going to break into the movie business, but they hardly ever do.”
“There was that one. The one in the [garbled] Titty [garbled].”
Titty? What on Earth are these two talking about?
“It’s true. She was in those horror flicks for a while. She could scream. But that hardly counts as success.”
“Yeah. The poor guy in . . .”
“Deep Throat.”
“Yeah, Deep Throat. That poor guy only ever wanted to be a real actor.”
“He was a real victim. He had no idea that he would be famous. Infamous.”
“Do you know of any others?”
“There are always a few who get some kind of role. Usually in slasher flicks. But then, there are so many people who think it’s going to be their big break, only to wind up with nothing.”
“Tragic.”
Just at that moment, I read a hilarious sentence in my book (the secret to all good eavesdropping is to multitask. I was still reading). I’d share it, but out of context, it just doesn’t make much sense. Anyhow, I burst out laughing. Hard. The couple looked stunned, and somewhat wounded.
“Oh,” I exclaimed. “My book is so funny.” It was really hard not to say, “I assure you, I’m not laughing about the tragic lives of porn stars. That would just be cruel. That said, I’m really impressed that you even know about this. I consider myself to be pretty open minded, but I’ve never heard of the porn starlet in the titty movie. Please do tell me more.”
Instead, I left it at my book, and the couple looked relieved. I turned away from their general direction and kept reading, but the moment was gone.
Tragic.
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2 comments:
Sigh … We ageing porn stars do lead such tragic lives, Sassy.
Say … Would you like to be in the movies, young lady?
You should try taking the commuter rail! People like to yell at each other, yell into the phone, etc--ever heard of "indoor voices?!" It's impossible not to overhear another passenger. I'm sorry, first it's 7am--who the hell are you talking to? And second, I paid $7 for this seat, please don't bug me. And third, I don't particularly want to hear about your rash, even if you are 4 rows behind me...we are on public transit and gross!
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