12.01.2005

overheard

The setting: Harvard square knitting store, nerds aplenty, myself included.

The characters: A huge, pizza-faced college boy, speaking in annoying, didactic tone to earnest-looking and much cooler female friend. While bandying about advanced knitting terms like "hank" and "swift" (in the noun form), he brags to salesgirl about the "fabulous Chilean wool" that's been sitting, unused, in his knitting bag for three months now, as if that's a sin on par with puppy killing.

"This stuff will treat'cha good," he says to his friend. "Sure, it can get kinda kinky, but if you're going to be a knitter, one thing you're going to have to get used to is ripping out your work and starting over. You'll be alright, I'll show you."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

it is funny that "pizza face" is so huge, annoying, and less cool than his "earnest" friend especially since she doesn't speak. Speaking is usually a prerequisite for earnestness. And while his "didactic tone" is annoying, he doesn't get any points in your book for "showing." He must know something of knitting to make the offer. Every knitting book and expert gives the same "starting over" advice. And he doesn't get any points from you for the earnestness of his final statement, "you'll be alright, I'll show you," which aims to comfort and to bolster her confidence. His tone is certainly annoying - but then again so are most people.

Anonymous said...

the (knitted) gloves come off...