Tourist 1: "Hey, look at that food truck!"
Tourist 2: "Probably hot dogs."
(Overheard by BEW near the Bite Into Maine food truck at Fort Williams)
These are real conversations that have been overheard in and around Portland, Maine. If you'd like to contribute to the blog, please email liz.woodbury (at) gmail.com with the details.
Tourist 1: "Hey, look at that food truck!"
Tourist 2: "Probably hot dogs."
(Overheard by BEW near the Bite Into Maine food truck at Fort Williams)
A boy of about 11, gazing in wonder upon the specialty cheese counter: "It’s so much cheese…I think I would puke."
(Overheard by JL at Whole Foods)
Woman on phone via AirPods: "I mean, it's the end of an era, and we're just, like, in it."
(Overheard at Whole Foods)
Person One: "Y'know what? Virginia's kind of a shithole."
Person Two: "Dude. Virginia sucks."
(Overheard by AJL at the Yosaku sushi bar)
Walking woman, talking on cell phone: "Yeah, I have these two deadlines coming up, and I just need to work harder."
Apparently unhoused gentleman, sitting on bench: "You need to work smarter, not harder!"
(Overheard by JAT in Evergreen Cemetery)
Woman with French accent: "This store is full of things I've never seen in the U.S. before...or anywhere!"
(Overheard by ZWH in Renys)
Man: "What's that boy group that doesn't like girls?"
Woman (laughing): "Wait, do you mean incels?"
(Overheard by MEW on Brighton Avenue)
Voice of a duck boat tour guide, to passengers: "And believe it or not, ten years ago this whole area was just rubble!"
(Overheard by ZH on Thames Street)
Bartender, watching server load a huge number of drinks on a tray: "You...taking all of those?"
Server: "I'm taking everything. Hopefully, what happened last time won't happen again."
(Overheard by MW at Yosaku)
Man answering a phone call on speaker while his car is stopped at a light and his window is rolled down, cheerfully: "Hi there!"
Voice on phone: "Fucking asshole!"
Man: "Who, me?"
(Overheard by JTW on Cumberland Avenue)
Server, to outdoor diner: "Do you want regular fries with that? Or waffle fries?"
Diner: "Regular, I guess."
Server: "Hmm."
Diner: "Oh, should I get waffle fries instead?"
Server: "Well. We are in Portland."
(Overheard by AW at Mellen Street Market)
Young woman behind the hardware store counter, to man wearing Sleater-Kinney t-shirt: "Isn't that the band Carrie Brownstein is in?"
Man: "Yes, it is."
Young woman: "They've been around since the nineties, right?"
Other shopper: "Yes, the nineties are big."
Young woman: "I know. I see kids wearing Friends shirts. I guess the dream of the nineties is alive in Portland."
(Overheard by JR at Maine Hardware)
One teenage girl to another: "Yeah, you know the frontal lobe? It's the part of the brain that has to do with things like NOT KISSING RANDOM WAITRESSES."
(Overheard by KB on Willard Beach)
Kid 1: "Have you ever had a Red Bull?"
Kid 2: "What kind of kid do you think I am?!"
Kid 1: "So you haven't had one?"
Kid 2: "No! It's not a kid's drink!"
Kid 1: "You mean it's like alcohol?"
Kid 2: "No! It's an energy drink? But it's not a kid's drink!"
Kid 1: "My friend who's in fifth — going into sixth — grade LEGIT had one."
Kid 2: "YO! What the hell's wrong with him?!"
(Overheard by ZWH and IWH at Pine Point Beach)
Older woman, upon seeing the Senior Hours sign outside Trader Joe's: "Senior hours 8am to 9 am?! I ain't getting up at 8am, I'm retired!"