A re-post from the winter of 2011.
Very little has changed since then...
So I’ve been listening in on the bus again.
It’s an art. Don’t let the iPod fool you. Sure it looks like I’m listening to music; but if it looks like you’re having an interesting time of it, I just may turn it off and eavesdrop…
Hey! It’s a public space, for cryin’ out loud! If you don’t want everyone to hear about how that stain got on your living room couch, I suggest you lower your voice.
Which brings me to yesterday morning. Come sit by me on the bus, where we keep our eyes ahead and our ears on scan…
It’s 6:24 a.m. Still dark. The bus is occupied by heavy-lidded, blanket-coated folk who want nothing more than to be back in their beds.
That’s how it normally is. Except for when it’s summer, of course, when the bus is occupied by heavy-lidded, cotton-clad folk who want nothing more than to be at the beach.
But back to our bus. And it is our bus, iddin it; and look how cozy we are! So cozy, in fact, that some of us have forgotten that we’re not alone…
The man directly in front of me, a young, skinny man in a heavy jacket and a Minnesota Viking hat is speaking loudly enough that I can hear him over my Earbuds.
You’re gonna be that loud? It’s on, fella!
I reach into my bag and turn my iPod off.
“Dryer sheets? Yeah – what? No, dryer sheets!”
Brief pause.
“What? You know they are! What are you doing? What do you mean, where do you put them? You put them in the dryer!”
Brief pause whilst the Vikings fan briefly loses it.
“Because they’re dryer sheets! They go in the dryer! That’s why they call them “dryer sheets”! Where do you think you’d put them, woman?!”
That was enough for me, and I went back to listening to The Black Keys.
Me, I’m torn between concern for someone who has called someone during their commute to ask about the dryer sheets, and pity for someone who has been called, during their commute, to explain where the dryer sheet goes.
I may have to give up listening in for a bit. It’s gonna give me wrinkles.
Very little has changed since then...
So I’ve been listening in on the bus again.
It’s an art. Don’t let the iPod fool you. Sure it looks like I’m listening to music; but if it looks like you’re having an interesting time of it, I just may turn it off and eavesdrop…
Hey! It’s a public space, for cryin’ out loud! If you don’t want everyone to hear about how that stain got on your living room couch, I suggest you lower your voice.
Which brings me to yesterday morning. Come sit by me on the bus, where we keep our eyes ahead and our ears on scan…
It’s 6:24 a.m. Still dark. The bus is occupied by heavy-lidded, blanket-coated folk who want nothing more than to be back in their beds.
That’s how it normally is. Except for when it’s summer, of course, when the bus is occupied by heavy-lidded, cotton-clad folk who want nothing more than to be at the beach.
But back to our bus. And it is our bus, iddin it; and look how cozy we are! So cozy, in fact, that some of us have forgotten that we’re not alone…
The man directly in front of me, a young, skinny man in a heavy jacket and a Minnesota Viking hat is speaking loudly enough that I can hear him over my Earbuds.
You’re gonna be that loud? It’s on, fella!
I reach into my bag and turn my iPod off.
“Dryer sheets? Yeah – what? No, dryer sheets!”
Brief pause.
“What? You know they are! What are you doing? What do you mean, where do you put them? You put them in the dryer!”
Brief pause whilst the Vikings fan briefly loses it.
“Because they’re dryer sheets! They go in the dryer! That’s why they call them “dryer sheets”! Where do you think you’d put them, woman?!”
That was enough for me, and I went back to listening to The Black Keys.
Me, I’m torn between concern for someone who has called someone during their commute to ask about the dryer sheets, and pity for someone who has been called, during their commute, to explain where the dryer sheet goes.
I may have to give up listening in for a bit. It’s gonna give me wrinkles.
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19 comments:
Peggy, you are the Master of the Everyday. How on earth do you make the morning commute such good reading? Mine is the same same same every dang day. Perhaps I should be riding the bus.
There's many a 'non dryer' use for a dryer sheet you know. Maybe you should turn down the music and give a second listen.
I suggest that you take to wearing a layer of dryer sheets discretely beneath your outer garments - it will help to prevent the wrinkles.
Seinfeld was one of my favorite TV shows...your posts remind me of Seinfeld, it is a blog about nothing.
That sounds like a home that would provide lots of inspiration for your blog, Pearl! Just imagine what it would be like to live with someone who needs instructions on dryer sheets!
Hope you are keeping warm.
Maybe there was another conversation on the bus the next day ... this time He phoned Her, because the dryer sheet had just emerged from his pantsleg.
Hari OM
...what - y'mean she STILL hasn't figured them out??? hehehehe, it's still fresh Pearl. YAM xx
And now let us all give thanks that the topic under loud discussion was only dryer sheets.
I agree with the others, Pearl - you can write something from nothing. Pure magic.
I remembered this !
Lately , I just sits.
love you
C, in the frozen NE
Down here dryer sheets are also used as repellent for no-see-ums... Somedays I wish I'd lose my cell phone and not have to replace it--maybe that'll happen the day I retire!
The worst thing about it is that those people vote.
To quote a yoga instructor, "Don't just do something, SIT THERE!"
I don't remember what I commented last time round, but this time, I'll say dryer sheets are just one more thing that get used and discarded, added to landfill that is fast overtaking our earth. I don't buy them, never have and never will. I dry my washing on the line in the sunshine and fresh air, unless it's pouring rain, then I dry things on the camp line in the back porch. Only if I need those things immediately will I put them in the dryer. Without dryer sheets.
Pearl seriously? What's a dryer?
May be a blog about nothing, but a great nothing to brighten my day. Keep listening and sharing. Your readers need you.
Me too, I do this
Thanks for visiting and commenting on my blog.
I can imagine that happening in a cue here...I would end up laughing, wouldn't be able to help myself.
[Used] dryer sheets are also used for backing on quilt pieces (says my friend who sews)...and are always appreciated.
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