Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Overheard (Almost)



"He's the kind of friend you want to have. Whatever you need, he's there."

"Okay."

"Not many people realize there's a big difference between intending to do something for someone, and actually doing it."

"Yep. Amen."

"No, really. I'm serious. He's one of those people who does it, every single time."

Nodding with a wobble to the left. "Cool." Then to the right. "I guess."

22 comments:

Atrisa said...

Looks like person number 1 is under denial and giving justifications for some kind of behavior. Second, of course, has clarity and cannot be taken in by such persuasion. Is that it? :P

SzélsőFa said...

i was wondering about the connection between the illustration and the text. i think both speakers believe themselves to be the wiser one of the conversation. my stance: i don't know :)))
:PPP
here's to the illustration.

word verif: 'nerfroba' sounds quite cryptic, too.

Piggy Little said...

i agree with atrisa. maybe person one shares an unexpected bond with the person he is talking about or maybe he is too enamored, taken in by him and therefore trying to establish how good he is. and maybe the second person in the conversation is wiser. isnt really taken in by what is being said because he has heard a lot about this person being talked about and maybe that is all not so good.

Tabitha Bird said...

Hmmm... there is obviously more to this then meets my eye... interesting...

the walking man said...

I can't decide which speaks more, the dialog or the implied body language.

Either way though I can see myself sitting and watching and hearing this conversation play out.

Shadow said...

cool, yes, but thinking about it, really thinking about it, i too get a little doubtful...

gerry boyd said...

But will he drive you to the airport?

Socially Awkward Paint Monster said...

I'm sorry, is there anything more to it? :/

"he DOES it" made me imagine some wrong things and laugh. :P

Dr. Cheryl Carvajal said...

Makes me wonder where they are... and what he "does"...

Linda S. Socha said...

Gotta love the intent.....You mave managed to make the shortest post erotic Jason,:>)
Linda

Anonymous said...

Atrisa, Szelsofa, Piggy Little, Tabitha, Walking Man, Shadow, Gerry, Limpidus, Shakespeare, Linda,

I decided not to do individual responses to this one. With so little guidance on this vignette (I don't even give genders for the speakers), each person's reaction is like a mirror. Each reaction is a insight into our expectations, experiences, and assumptions. I found it very fascinating and great opportunity to share what stirs in our minds. Thanks for all of your reactions! I hope you don't mind me poking at what makes us tick as people in these quirky little ways.

Aniket Thakkar said...

Where is this guy? Can he get me a million dollars?

Angie Muresan said...

Oh, I always like guys who do it.

K.Lawson Gilbert said...

"quirky little ways" is just my game...

I wonder about the aloofness of speaker 2. Where does his reserve come from - jealousy of the 3rd person? Distrust of the 1st person? Indifference to the whole idea..?

Anonymous said...

Aniket, absolutely.

Angie, I'm glad someone does. :)

Kaye, what do you sense in your mind? For me, it was indifference. But that begs the question. Why indifference? (And thanks for playing the game with me!)

Pallav Gogoi said...

damn good :)

Tess Janssen said...

Contradiction in six lines. Two total different worlds, believes, lives and persons in six lines. That's what I think, what I see.

Then again, first part implies teacher-student ('you want to have')
Next, it could be a disguised hint, ('intending to do something') that person 1 wants something from person 2, or is giving little nudges of how he feels (and wants to be treated?). Then the reply, ('Yep. Amen.') feels like they're in a bar watching football, drinking beer. Person 1 isn't watching the game, person 2 is watching the game intensly (and just wishes 1 would shut the hell up, lol). 'Who does it every single time' kinda tastes like admiration and adoration, like teenagers wanting to be friends with the popular guy really bad. Then the last part, fits with the bar-theory, but, there is also the contradiction-theory, mentioned first.

Or, y'know, it could be two criminals planning a robbery and they're debating who the will ask to drive, person 1 is the brain and person 2 the dumb muscle. ;)

Funny how you can create sch turmoil on my brain with just six lines. Anyway, loving it, in just those six lines.

Anonymous said...

A.E., I'm glad to hear you say that (about reading between the lines). I love to weave the scene with only what's observable and challenge the reader to figure out the why. Life is like that. We don't have narrators following us around giving us all the answers. I guess it's because I do the same thing in life. I like to sense the contents of the deep below the surface. I'm getting the sense that most readers don't want that responsibility, though.

Tess Janssen said...

Jason,

I like you. I do. I like this vision you have, I kinda have the same. A lot of people simply go with the flow and everything, let it all happen to them and swallow whatever is thrown at them. They don't look into meanings or whatever is happening and why. Those are simple people. Sometimes, I wonder if they are better off, life happier lives than I/you/we do, like, aren't we making it too hard for us? Why go through the trouble of finding a deeper meaning if there are tons of people that don't and they seem pretty darn happy. It would be easy, though, having a narrator. Then again, when I think about it, doesn't that like, make us puppets? I don't know. I'm rambling.
About what you said last, a lot of people don't want that responsibility, let alone readers. :)

Linda S. Socha said...

The greatest fun can be reading between the lines...even if assigning personal beliefs to the reading:>)
Thanks Jason for your style
Linda

Anonymous said...

A.E., very true. I suppose that regardless of whether it would be better (happier) not to be drawn to the depths, people can't change who they are. At least not very quickly. Looking back twenty years to when I was twenty, I think the one bit of advice I would give myself is to open myself more to the pleasures in small things. A warm day. A meadow. An afternoon with someone. When you feel different than others, you don't lose the fire of wanting to solve that problem, to belong somewhere, but it can become much less intense when you push your acceptance wider and learn to be less exacting.

Linda, I'm glad to hear that you have the drive also! I'm faced with the task of writing more superficially in novels, but here at least, I can indulge.

Linda S. Socha said...

Exactly!