The Overheard Remark

Do you sometimes see and hear little insignificant things and wonder about them? Perhaps when you’re sitting, waiting for a meeting or an appointment, standing in line or taking a walk?

I do. I especially remember two little scenarios. There’s nothing dramatic or exciting about either one. I’ve just always wondered about them

Years ago we were in a bookstore early on a Sunday morning. The store was virtually empty. A young father and his precious red-headed daughter (she was probably four) were leaving the store. She had a new picture book….a big one. She was swinging it back and forth. Exuberantly. I remember his words to her. Exactly.

He said: “Harriet, is that any way to carry your new book?”  

That was all I saw and all I heard.

But I wondered. Was he chastising her? Worried she was going to drop the book and tear the pages? Did he want to teach her respect for books? Was he divorced? Was this his weekend with her?

Or maybe he told her mother just to sleep in. Perhaps they had a new baby and he wanted to do something just for Harriet. I’ll never know but that little moment in time is frozen in my memory.

Another snippet took place in an airport. I was going out to the gate to pick up my husband. Two men were coming towards me, one obviously a good bit older than the other. I could tell immediately that the older gentleman was either French or Italian. His jaunty beret gave him away!

The younger man had his arm, lovingly, around the other’s shoulder and I heard these words: “Poppa, first time on an airplane, you should have taken two.”

They were talking pills, obviously. Had his dad been airsick, was he scared, had he flown from Europe alone and obviously for the first time? Had it been years since they had seen each other; did the son go to visit his father often; did he want his father to see how he lived in the U.S. and perhaps meet his family for the first time?

Silly, I know, but those two little scenes are frozen in my memory.

So, you say, perhaps I should thaw out my brain and make room for some more up to date stuff. Nothing doing. I’ll never know what those “overheard remarks” meant or what came after, but I love those little moments in time and wouldn’t trade them for anything.