Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Girls Just Wanna Have Figs

On my return flight to Paris for the second half of my stay here, I found myself next to a certain 80s pop icon at the gate at O'Hare. We spent about 30 minutes next to one another, and I could not help but overhear snippets of conversation. I'm not proud to say that I took notes, but I did type the following into my Blackberry:

Waiting to board my delayed flight to Paris. XXXXX YYYYYY is next to me at the gate. Seriously. This is a summary of her conversation with a friend and a flight attendant. She loves figs. She cannot stop talking about them. She doesn't want to eat cheese. "It's all fat." No makeup. Black toenail polish. Tattoo of some sort of puma or leopard on left ankle. Now she's saying she doesn't understand how men can spend time away from their children. A digression into men being hunters and gatherers. She hates the way cows and chickens are killed. She just said mushrooms give you "bad dreams." Now we're boarding and my eavesdropping will come to an end.
--------------------------Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld

I am pleased to report that the pop icon in question appeared to be as warm and free-spirited as her public image. She looked a good 10 years younger than she really is and it was completely unclear whether that comment about mushrooms was from personal experience or second-hand opinion. Time after time, these icons don't live up to their image, but this one did; in fact her true colors shone through. OK, does that at least partially redeem me for eavesdropping (and drop enough hints for you)?

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