I love this video, if only because it perfectly captures how creepy coffee shop encounters can be, as I’ve blogged about before: http://gradstudentdrone.tumblr.com/post/37741149205/dealing-with-grey-areas-is-this-guy-harassing-me-or-is
“I only listen to music that means something…like Phil Collins.”
Overheard while dissertating:
Guy: I only listen to music that means something. That’s the purpose of art, you know? You are who you listen to. You are what your music is.
Barrista: Yeah, totally. Why, like, debase your ears by listening to Kesha?
Guy: Yes! Why listen to Kesha when you can listen to someone deep? Someone like Phil Collins. Man, that guy is such a brilliant lyricist.
“But he’s a young fifty! Think, like, a hot, hippie Tom Cruise minus the crazy and the botox.”
Overheard while dissertating, Vancouver edition:
20-something # 1: “So, how’s the dating life going?”
20-something # 2: “Good. I met someone! He’s not working now but he hopes to do more with his medical practice.”
20-something # 1: “Oh? He’s a doctor? Cool.”
20-something # 2: ” Yeah. I mean, he does a lot of natural, holistic medicine, so he’s trying to get that started. He’s pretty fit so he has a good body. He does different types of yoga - kundalini, ashtanga…”
20-something # 1: “Yeah, I agree, knowing how to have a centred yoga practice is, like, a deal breaker.”
20-something # 2: “Totally. I mean, yoga is my life! Oh, but there’s just one thing.”
20-something # 1: “What’s that?”
20-something # 2: “He’s 50. But he’s, like, a young 50.”
20-something # 1: “Oh?”
20-something # 2: “Think, like, a hot, hippie, organic-food loving Tom Cruise minus the crazy and the botox and not, like, Ricky Gervais. Gross.”
Dating West-Coast style?
“You can’t be a tiger mom if you’re not Chinese.”
Overheard while dissertating:
Young mom-to-be # 1: I think Aaron and I will be all set. We’ve discussed what our respective roles will be as parents. We’ve also been reading parenting books. I know she got, like, criticized by the press, but I totally love the way Amy Chua raised her daughters. I am so going to be a tiger mom.
Young mom-to-be # 2: I love her! She set boundaries and now her kids go to Yale. That’s good, right? I am also going to be a tiger mom.
(Silence)
Young mom-to-be # 2: What?
Young mom-to- be # 1: Um, not to state the obvious, but you can’t be a tiger mom.
Young mom-to-be # 2: What? Why not?
Young mom-to-be # 1: You have to be Chinese to be a tiger mom.
Young mom-to-be # 2: Seriously?
Young mom-to-be # 1: Yeah. Maybe you can be camel mom. That makes more sense cause you’re Persian.
***
As a good friend, E2, is fond of saying: I have no words.
Summer is not the time for cultural genocide
Hipster Boy: “You look really intense. What are you reading?”
Me: “Huh? Oh. I’m reading about the cultural genocide caused by the Indian Act.”
Hipster Boy: “It’s such a nice day. Why are you reading something so dismal? Is it for class?”
Me: “Yes.”
Hipster Boy: “Your prof must suck. Who wants to talk about that stuff in the summer?”
Me: “I’m the one who assigned the readings.”
Hipster Boy: “What?”
Me: “I’m the prof.”
