i have a question...

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Overheard at Work, vol. LXXIX

It's been a harrowing couple weeks at work. Last week nearly broke my resolve. This week was just three days for me, as I'm about to have a 5-day weekend and spend some time lounging by a waterfall, if all goes well.

Hopefully, I return to Boston rejuvenated and ready for the rest of the summer (which is FLYING by).

9-year-old girl, during an intense card game noticing a 3, then a 4, then a 3 being put down: That was a sandwich!
Me: YOU'RE a sandwich!
Girl: How is that an insult?

8-year-old girl, in a singsong voice: Elderly! You're elderly!
Colleague: YOU'RE elderly! How DARE you?

Me, to a 13-year-old girl with an identical twin: How are we going to tell you two apart when your braces come off?
Girl: I'll be the one with pretty teeth.

16-year-old boy, during an intense game of Charades: I thought the clue "Gran Torino" was Quentin Tarantino!

9-year-old girl, during an intense game of Connect 4, when somebody had won but nobody called it out: We were thinking about more complicated theories so we didn't notice.

Friday, July 26, 2013

Overheard at Work, vol. LXXVIII

Oy, what a week. So glad that it's Friday and that I have no plans tomorrow. I intend on doing very little. Need a serious recharge day. And I get a little vacation at the end of next week, which I am very much ready for and looking forward to!

7-year-old girl: A choreographer is someone who digs up dinosaur bones.

11-year-old girl to my newly engaged coworker: You're married?
Coworker: No, I'm engaged.
Girl: So, you like him?

8-year-old girl's clue for someone to act out in Charades: Twilight braken a bone
(She meant Twilight: Breaking Dawn.)

12-year-old boy, to my insistence he spit out his gum: Gum is the only thing that's cool to me though!

Coworker, to 17-year-old boy: What's a synonym?
Boy: Synonym toast crunch!

17-year-old boy: I had to get my HPV shot. That thing hurts! I thought it was only for girls!

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Texts on a Train

En route to Providence yesterday, S and I exchanged this correspondence:

A: I'm due in at 11:10.

S: Awesome.

A: I was thinking about it last night. I rated the outfit I packed for dinner on a scale from casual to fancy not on a fancy scale...

S: I don't know what you mean. But it doesn't really matter now! With this weather, I'll probably just stay in what I'm wearing anyway.

A: OK.
Like. On my rating of 5, 1 was jeans and a tshirt and 10 was cocktail attire.

S: I think a 1 on the fancy scale would be super casual, right?

A: As opposed to 1 being a denim skirt and a tank and 10 being a ball gown.
Hahahahahaha. I crack myself up.

S: Hahahahahahaha
This is hilarious. Yeah my 1 was like a dirty skirt with a hole in it. And my 10 was a ball gown.

A: See? Our scales are askew.
I packed a simple black skirt and a detailed tank.

S: I brought a simple shirt and a detailed skirt! We're made for each other.

A: Exactly
On the train! And there is a man on it making hacking sounds unlike anything I've ever heard.

S: Eeeeew. Public transportation is the worst.

A: It sounds like he's dying.

S: Just saw a guy eat his booger.

A: OMG. Horrible.

S: Just drove by a big pink building. Cheaters Gentleman's Club.

A: Classy. We should check it out, find me a date.

Friday, July 12, 2013

Overheard at Work, LXXVII, and other things

It's been SO LONG!

I turned 30 in a grand two-day long fete, including a massage, cocktails, dinner, tarot card reading, and brunch.

Work was closed to kids the week after my birthday while we prepared for summer programming.

Then we had a three-day week, followed by a four-day weekend.

And I've just survived my first full week of summer programming. It's been a big adjustment, waking up 4 days a week at 6:45 AM, being in direct service most of the afternoons, supervising our weekly Friday events...

I'm headed to Providence for the weekend tomorrow and I hope it feels a little like a mini-vacation!

16-year-old, singing "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls: I wanna...I wanna...I wanna...I want you to shut up so I can go to sleep!

Colleague A: As I get older, I feel like I'm losing my touch with children.
Colleague B: I feel like I'm losing my touch with adults!

Me, to teen running in the hall: Why are you running?
Teen's friend: Why AREN'T you running?

9-year-old girl, commenting on a photo I took of the group making an R with their bodies: That looks like a couple of thongs.

Me, to a 16-year-old boy: Have fun!
Teen: Don't tell me what to do!

12-year-old girl, to my coworker: I want to know what your future husband looks like. Is he tall? Broad? Good stamina?

She had lots of other questions this week, including, "What's a diphthong?" and this exchange:
Her: I have a question. I don't know if it's appropriate.
Me: OK...
Her: What's a cougar?
Me: ...Why do you ask?
Her: I was watching this talk show and there were like 55-year-old women and 21-year-old men.
Me: And what does that mean?
Her: They were dating?
Me: Uh huh.
Her: So, which one's the cougar?
Me: The woman.

Just another day on the job!