Private things made public

This is along the lines of Brandon Scott Thomas' recent rant about cel phone etiquette. He says it well.

Last night, my family went to a baseball game (A's against the Mariners, if you want to know), and while spending way too much time standing line for pizza and garlic fries, I discovered something: Not only do people think that talking on a cel phone seem to believe that the phone somehow shields them from being overheard, so does standing in line at a concession stand.

While waiting 25 minutes for pizza (and if I hadn't been getting it for my lovely daughter, I'd have skipped it!), I stood behind two brothers with their significant others, younger folks than I, as the two brothers discussed their relationship with, and the shortcomings of, their estranged father. Included in the conversation was a discussion of each of their relative drunkenness at the moment, the bad habits of their father, some stupid things they'd done in their relationships with their father and each other, and other embarassing details that I'd not have mentioned in front of complete strangers.

While waiting 45 minutes for garlic fries (and if they hadn't been garlic fries, I'd have skipped it!), two women whom I can only describe as "common-sense challenged" discussed the effects of hairstyles on how much attention -- and how much affection, to put it mildly -- they would get when meeting complete strangers in social settings (i.e. getting picked up by guys in bars). Also discussed were the relative merits and faults of several of their coworkers, including their appreciation for the appearance of some of the males in question, and their disdain for the success of one of the females at getting the attention of said males.

I wanted to shout, "Do you people realize that you sound really, really dumb talking like this in front of other people? Talk about the weather, your investment portfolio, technical aspects of your favorite hobby (cars, knitting, rock-climbing, whatever), or anything but personal details of your lives that reflect poorly on you!"

But I didn't. I was busy smelling the garlic, and keeping my 7-year-old son (8 in a few days) from having to hear the more salacious details, and keeping him entertained while standing in line for over an hour.

I think the A's won, but I missed most of the game.