Eavesdropping in the Big Apple

Oregonians do NYC:Bird's eye view:

My experience eavesdropping in a New York City coffee shop was extremely interesting. It was about eleven am on a sunny, crisp New York morning on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. I figured this was prime eavesdropping time since many people were already partially through their workday and would be wandering in to get some motivation in the form of caffeine. Two very trendy young women walked in, both in their mid to late twenties, and I tilted my ear their direction. After ordering cappuccinos, I knew these girls were for real. They sat at a table near to me, and continued their conversation using the word “obsessive” at least fifteen times in a minute. As it turns out, these girls were actually talking about Facebook, which is the very subject of one of our group’s department stories. The platinum blond girl was telling her strawberry blond friend that a “seriously dope” guy had been “stalking” her on Facebook and he seemed really into it. She leaned closer to her friend to admit to her that she’d been checking him out too, but they’d never met in person. She didn’t even know if he was using his real name on Facebook. After all, “he, like, lives in the Bronx or something.” She hoped to meet up with him during the week, and her friend nodded in agreement but warned, “Just be safe, babe.” This coffee shop conversation made my day since it was both entertaining and informative since the girls were exactly the type of demographic we’re aiming for with our group’s magazine, aside from the fact that they live in New York. After hearing their conversation, I’m assured that our piece will be one 20-somethings can relate to. On the other side of the Upper East Side, I decided to grab a little bite to eat and listen to some more conversation since the morning session had been so informative. This time, though, all I heard was a loud, anxious New Yorker speaking into her cell phone about what time the train came from Long Island into the City. At least I had one interesting, informative eavesdropping session while on my cross-country jaunt!