This edition of Overheard is unique in that all of the quotes can be attributed to one young man whom I encountered "smokin' and jokin'" outside the post office the other day. I decided that he looked like a "Zack." I don't know his real name obviously, but I will hereafter refer to him as Zack. It just fit him somehow. (He was white, 17 or 18, thin, a hint of acne, mousy brown hair hanging over his ears and jutting out from under his backwards facing baseball cap, pink t-shirt, denim jeans and sneakers.)
Finding myself without any form of vehicular transport I had decided to take the ol' shoeleather express into town to get the camp's mail that day. As I approached the post office I noticed Zack leaning against the side of the building, smoking a cigarette and talking excitedly with a group of friends. While I was still several hundred feet away, he suddenly threw up his arms and bellowed incredulously, "He's Chinese?!?! I thought he was Mexican! Shut the f*** up! He's not Chinese!"
That got my attention. I had to pass by where they were standing on my way to the post office, so, as I pondered how a Chinese person might be confused for a Mexican, I continued to watch them with half an eye as I walked in their direction. As I got a little closer I observed a girl, pretty with black hair in a pony-tail and carrying a cowboy hat under one arm, peeling off from the group with an annoyed expression on her face. Zack called after her, "Oh, c'mon! Where you going? C'mon!" She didn't answer, didn't even look back, and just kept on walking. Zack laughed, but he looked sheepish about whatever had happened with the girl. I could see her face as she walked away, and she looked pretty steamed. "Hmmm...interesting," I thought. Always on the lookout for a good "OVERHEARD" I slowed my pace considerably as I passed by and picked up this nugget from Zack, "I want to go to the future, but I wouldn't want to be stuck there. It could be really s****y, you know?"
I went into the post office, retrieved the mail, and as I came back outside I heard Zack's voice, riding a whiff of cigarette smoke, come to me from around the side of the building, "I can't believe you bought peaches! Who the f*** eats peaches anymore?"
I eat peaches, Zack.
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3 comments:
Strangely enough, one of my best friends is 100% Mexican and people think he's asian ALL the time. Random.
My dad is half Chinese and people mistake him for Mexican all the time. It's a long-standing joke. I call him Mexican regularly, to his face, naturally :)
You know why you eat peaches Josh?
Because you are classy!
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