Leftover Chinese Just Shakes His Head

Scene - Bar Men's Room. Time - 1:00am. Conversation - Bathroom Ads.

Drunk Frat Dude at the Urinal: "What's with this ad? Who would put this ad up in a bathroom?"
Leftover Chinese in the Stall: "I don't know, dude, I just see Seth Green on a Dinosaur."
Drunk Frat Dude at the Urinal: "This ad is so stupid. I can't believe they would put this up. I would know, I WENT TO BUSINESS SCHOOL."
Leftover Chinese in the Stall: *head shake*
Drunk Frat Dude on his way out: "That ad is so stupid, man."
Leftover Chinese on his way out: "Well, you see, you're talking about the ad...so it did its job."
Drunk Frat Dude exiting: "HAHAHA OH HAHAH. That's pretty funny, bro. I know you're clowning me and all but that's funny."
Leftover Chinese: *head shakes*

Once in a while, I wonder if I wasted my time getting that business degree...should I have challenged myself at least a little bit?

. . [~] . 0 (Grumble) Grumbles .

Leftover Chinese Tries to Drown Out the Ranting Guy

Scene - Standing Room Only Train Car. Time - 5:30pm. Conversation - Ranting Passenger.

Though dressed in a light blue suit and well kempt, the gentleman across the doorway was giving a floor speech. I wasn't sure what he was saying, so I guess I'll go with:

Ranting Traveler wearing a blue suit: "blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah..."

Everybody around the guy pretended not to notice; myself included. Off I go into headphone world: Up goes the music, down goes the ranting. I saw was a flapping mouth. For some reason, he kept looking in my direction.

Ranting Traveler wearing a blue suit: "blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah..."

It came time to depart for our fellow traveler, so we clear a path for him. Being between songs at this point, I caught a few words:

Ranting Traveler wearing a blue suit: "blah-blah-blah-chinese-japanese-blah-blah-chinese-japanese-blah-blah..."

While fellow asian riders collectively rolled their eyes, I'm left wondering if I should have been paying attention.

Leftover Chinese: "wha?"

. . [~] . 0 (Grumble) Grumbles .

Leftover Chinese Talks to a Dozen Strangers at Once

Scene - Conference Room. Time - 9:30am. Conversation - Corporate something or other.

Actually, they're not strangers and I know them "professionally" but I know nothing about their lives and nothing about what makes them tick. I did, however, hold their attention (and kept myself from spacing out) for what turned into a two hour meeting. I feel sorry for the folks that had to listen in via the telephone. Thirty page powerpoint presentation? Check. Fifty-odd pages of sample reports? Check. What did I do to prepare for this meeting last night? watched the Sox throw a one-hitter.

Highlights/Tricks to keep them interested:

- Sprots related Ice breaker: "I was at the Sox game last night and...and well, anyway...let's get started."
- Constant: "Good question, we'll get to that later in the presentation."
- Worst Equivocation ever: "We've gone from using two cans connected to a string to...um...being in the same room."
- Treated!: "Yes, that number is accurate...the number you're thinking of shows up if you keep reading the sentence." (I didn't say it quite like that)
- Short-term Memorization/References to people in the room: "Going back to what ____ asked about twenty minutes ago, this particular power point slide says this..."
- Worst conclusion ever: "Any questions? Okay....off we go."

Off we go.

. . [~] . 0 (Grumble) Grumbles .

Leftover Chinese and emikey.com Walk by Wrigley the Evening after a Day Game

These aren't interactions with strangers, but they're still worthy of taking to strangers month. Walking this area the night after a day game is chock full of entertainment. Judging by the people walking around, you'd think it was 2am all night long...

Scene - Taco Bell Parking Lot. Time - 7:35pm. Conversation - Rage
Woman Screaming into parked SUV: "OH MY GOD I AM SO PISSED. WHERE ARE THEY??! WHERE THE FUCK DID THEY GO? I'M SO PISSED OFF!!"
*woman storms back towards the bar street*
Emikey.com: "Woah...settle down, Paris."

A few minutes later, while in the Taco Bell, the same woman came back and screamed a few more things into the car.

Scene - McDonald's Parking Lot. Time - 7:55pm. Conversation - Food Order.
Woman Talking to her friend: "I wwwhaaant a chhheesse burger.."

No, wait...it gets better.

Scene - A Bar a few doors north of McDonald's. Time - 7:56pm. Conversation - Consolation.

Some guy: *sniff*
Guy's friend: "DUDE, it's okay. Shake it off...it never happened."
Some guy: *sniff - sniff*
Guy's friend: "Don't worry dude, let's go to another bar."

Leftover Chinese: "Did that guy get his ass kicked?"
Emikey.com: "yeah"

Conclusion?

Leftover Chinese/Emikey.com: "SPRING BREAK '99!!!"

. . [~] . 0 (Grumble) Grumbles .

Leftover Chinese Greets Passerby

Scene - Front Step. Time - 5:46pm. Conversation - Greeting
Leftover Chinese: "Hello."
Passerby: "Hi."

Scene - Front Step. Time - 5:56pm. Conversation - Greeting
Leftover Chinese: "Hi."
Passerby: "Hello."

Scene - Front Step. Time - 6:02pm. Conversation - Greeting
Leftover Chinese: "Hi."
Passerby: "Hi."

Scene - Front Step. Time - 6:11pm. Conversation - Greeting
Leftover Chinese: "Hi."
Passerby: "Hi."

Scene - Front Step. Time - 6:14pm. Conversation - Greeting
Leftover Chinese: "Hi."
Passerby: "Hello."

Scene - Front Step. Time - 6:22pm. Conversation - Greeting
Leftover Chinese: *nod*
Passerby: *nod*

Scene - Front Step. Time - 6:30pm. Conversation - Greeting
Leftover Chinese: *nod*
Passerby: *nod*

Scene - Front Step. Time - 6:34pm. Conversation - Greeting
Leftover Chinese: "Hi."
Passerby: *nod*

Scene - Front Step. Time - 6:41pm. Conversation - Greeting
Leftover Chinese: "Hi."
Passerby: "Hello."

Scene - Front Step. Time - 6:45pm. Conversation - Greeting
Leftover Chinese: "Fran!"
Fran: "What are you doing out here?"
Leftover Chinese: "Kind of locked out right now and nobody in the building to let me in."

All times and possibly people exaggerated. Second day in a row.

. . [~] . 0 (Grumble) Grumbles .

Leftover Chinese Curses Inanimate Objects

Inanimate Objects around the house are like strangers. You never get their story, but you'll still exchange a few pleasantries every once in a while.

Scene - Bedroom. Time - 1:00am. Conversation - Interrupted Sleep.

Leftover Chinese: "zzzzzzz....-"

Bedroom Ceiling's Unintelligible Male Voice: "WHAT THE @#$#!f#23!!"
Bedroom Ceiling's Unintelligible Female Voice: "WELL YOU T@#S32#$!!!"
Bedroom Ceiling's Unintelligible Male Voice: "WHAT THE @#$#!f#23!!"
Bedroom Ceiling's Unintelligible Female Voice: "WELL YOU T@#S32#$!!
Bedroom Ceiling's Unintelligible Male Voice: "WHAT THE @#$#!f#23!!"
Bedroom Ceiling's Unintelligible Female Voice: "WELL YOU T@#S32#$!!

and so on and so forth...

Leftover Chinese: "Sheeeit."

Scene - Bedroom. Time - 6:54am. Conversation - Triple Alarm Clock Action.

Alarm Clock: "BEEP! (classical music) BEEP! (classical music) BEEP! (classical music) BEEP! (classical music) BEE-" Ceiling: "SQUEAK! (squeak) SQUEAK! (squeak) SQUEAK! (squeak) SQUEAK! (squeak) SQUE-" Pet: "MEOW! (door scratch) MEOW! (door scratch) MEOW! (door scratch) MEOW! (door scratch) ME-"

Leftover Chinese: "Sheeeit."

I keep thinking today is Wednesday. The week is already long.

. . [~] . 0 (Grumble) Grumbles .

Leftover Chinese and Sammo Grant Mock a Stranger

Scene - Music Club. Conversation - Brief greeting.

Stranger: "Hi, my name is Shane and I just moved here from Austin. Despite what everybody else in the room thought, I really thought you guys sounded good!"
Leftover Chinese: "Thanks. Take care"

*stranger exits*

Sam: "He said the same thing to me. Think about what that guy is saying."

*pause*

Leftover Chinese: "Yeah. That's similar to me walking up to a woman and saying: "everybody in the room thinks you're hideous, but I think you're hot!"

Sam: "haha! Yeah...he's saying 'everybody here thinks you guys suck, but I liked it."

Double-edged sword.

. . [~] . 0 (Grumble) Grumbles .

Talk To Strangers Month Starts off Slow for Leftover Chinese

So things haven't gone as planned. I've been too busy talking to people I know. Some people even said they enjoyed serious month. This month will be a let down compared to last month, but hey...I need the break. Stangers will be spoken to this weekend...I've a hunch.

. . [~] . 0 (Grumble) Grumbles .

Leftover Chinese Starts a New Month

Opening day!

On this same weekend last year, Leftover Chinese had one of the greatest weekends ever with a trip to Milwaukee to tailgate under the sun and meeting what turned into a four month romance. Being quite the contrast, this weekend was quite businesslike...but I did get to hear cardinals chirping at 2am. Welcome back, birds.


On a boon from Millah the neighbor, I found myself at Comiskey for a night of April beisbol. You never know what's going to happen to the weather, so you just prepare to bundle. Before game time, it was 50-some degrees and sunny. America welcomes spring with fly-bys, mittens, and chance weather.


At the office last week, members of the company traded a few bitter company wide e-mail barbs about being a White Sox fan. Typical elitist and fear-inducing comments were made: "get vaccinated" or "bring a bulletproof vest" or "wear a white tank-top" and "I'm sure there will be 15,000-20,000 open seats at game time." Reality above.


Rain Delays are fun. Everybody heads for the concourse. Every person seems to be tiring to get somewhere else. Since this situation doesn't happen to often, nobody is in a bad mood.


Tarp. Rain. Going home. The game resumed as of posting time. Go Sox. Happy Spring.

So what's the theme of this month? April shall be LET'S SPEAK TO STRANGERS month. I will combat my natural shyness in public and have more short conversations with people on the steets. What's wrong with a little small-town friendliness in the big, cold city? Interesting wisdom shall be shared.

Scene - Champs Sports. Conversation - Shoe purchase.

Kid Shoe Salesman: "Hey...I tell you what (speak quieter), you buy this shoe-care kit for $5.99 and I'll give you 30% off."
Leftover Chinese: "I've got 30% off sitting my back pocket (true), but thanks for the offer."
Kid Shoe Salesman: "Aww man...okay. Wanna buy some socks?"
Leftover Chinese: "I'm cool."

Nice try, buddy.

Scene - Green Line Stop. Conversation - Rain Delay.

Leftover Chinese: "So this is what they call April Baseball, huh?"
Wisdom Sharing Sox Fan: "Hah. This isn't it April baseball...this is......."

*brief pause*

Wisdom Sharing Sox Fan: "The season begins the same way it ended last year and I don't mind leaving the game."
Leftover Chinese: "Yeah, skipping five innings won't hurt ya."
Wisdom Sharing Sox Fan: "They say rain is good luck on opening day."
Leftover Chinese: "They do?"

I've never heard that one before.

. . [~] . 0 (Grumble) Grumbles .