Monday, September 3, 2007

chronicles of public transportation: chapter 1


I overhead a snippet of a phone conversation while riding tracks last week and hurriedly dug through my bag to write it down. It went something like this:


And he said, "I don't care if you do," and I said, "Well I'm going to come by and steal your petrified wood, then."


Do you think he really was talking about petrified wood or was it some obscure euphemism? From the looks of him I would have to guess that he was really talking about petrified wood.

4 comments:

ali said...

That's one euphemism I've never heard. Funny you should write this down, as I was just thinking about how I need to record the conversations I overhear. Joan Didion did it, so why shouldn't I?

jamieanne said...

This is one of the true thrills of public transportation. I love the things you see/hear, getting to peek in on someones life for 30 or so seconds.
This one, is truly one I've never heard before. Petrified wood?!? And stealing said wood?!?

Lane said...

I got petrified wood as a wedding gift. Tell this lady I know where she can get some...

Ellen said...

Yep, petrified wood is real. My dad and us girls used to collect rocks and we had some petrified wood as well. It's wood that's become fossilized and is smooth like a rock. I didn't realize it was that valuable, though, that you would be tempted to steal it...