He’s a Little Too Chubby for Me

Chinese guy: Excuse me, I think I dropped my wallet in this store. Did you guys happen to see a wallet anywhere in here?
Clerk: I’m sorry sir, we are good Buddhist people, and we good Buddhist people are always moral, and we would never do such a thing as stealing your wallet.
Chinese guy: I never said you stole my wallet, I just asked if you’ve seen my wallet.
Clerk: Goodbye, please come again. Next on line!
Chinese guy: Go fuck Buddha!

Translated from the Chinese.

–Flushing store

Overheard by: Ting

Posted on February 10, 2023
Chinese, Clerks, Crime and Punishment, Grocery Stores, Queens, Religion

Well You're Flat-Chested, but Did I Point That Out??

Stranger to six-year-old girl who is one dollar short when paying: Hey there, sweetheart! I will pay that last dollar for you. Don't you worry.
Girl: No! You are fat!

–Dylan's Candy Bar

Overheard by: Acrown

Posted on December 7, 2022
Ahhh! Real New Yorkers, Comebacks, Diet/Weight, Girls, Grocery Stores, Money & Class, Nice People, Offers and requests, Only in New York, Physical appearance, Should've Used a Condom, Strangers

Playgroup Snack-time Brings Out Anxiety in a Lot Of First Time Moms

Girl #1: I'm sorry! They're closed!
Girl #2, crying: I don't care! There's no way I'm going in that room without some Kool-Aid!

–Outside Gristedes, 170th & Broadway

Overheard by: Cheezy Kreezy

Posted on November 10, 2022
Drinks, Girls, Grocery Stores, Shopping, Washington Heights and Inwood

We Are So Moving to Connecticut!

Little boy, pointing at juice boxes: I want Clifford!
Mom: No! Those aren't organic!

–Uptown Fairway

Posted on February 9, 2022
Drinks, Grocery Stores, Kids, Moms, Parents, Wishes & desires

Wednesday One-Liners Regret Listening to Their Biological Clocks

Mother to screaming toddler: Stop it. This is not your day. This is my day. Don't ruin it.

–Gourmet Garage

Southern woman to son: The WWE pose, just like we practiced in the backyard now.

–NBC Studios

Overheard by: Tracy

Mother yelling at three little well-dressed girls: Do not open that bottle of glitter! Do not! If you know glitter… (holding her arms out making a rainbow sort of gesture) Shit flies!

–Central Park

Overheard by: chellie

Very young mother to four-year-old son: Stop that! If you don't start behavin' I'm gonna send you in for the new model!

–R Train

Overheard by: Kait

Ghetto mom to young son running his hand along outside window while walking: Don't do that! You gonna get germs! Yo' hand gonna fall off!

–45th b/w 3rd & Lexington

Overheard by: Lili Von Shtupp

Very serious mother: Well, Megatron could beat Optimus because he's stronger. But Optimus is smarter, so he can outsmart Megatron.

–East Village

Mom holding little boy's hand: Forget everything you've seen today.

–Mermaid Parade, Coney Island Boardwalk

Overheard by: Not forgetting ANYTHING we saw today

Posted on November 11, 2021
All Wednesday One-Liners, Buildings, Central Park, Compare/Contrast, Coney Island, Fears, Ghetto Chicks, Grocery Stores, Kids, Midtown & Hell's Kitchen, Moms, Offers and requests, On the Subway, Parents, Southerners, Sports, Threats, TV, Union Square and East Village, Women

The Sum Of All Wednesday One-Liners

Woman on cell: And when my brother got near him, his poop came out. That's how scared he was.

–107th & Broadway

Woman on cell: So yeah, they are really scary, like if you walk in the house they will bark really loud, and that's totally worse than them biting you.

–Majestic Theater

Girl on cell: I went in for genetic counseling and I found out things that scared me.

–10th Ave & 39th St

Overheard by: Todd Fletcher

Girl on cell: No, you can't go! I'm too stoned and too scared. Just stay on the phone with me, please.

–Supermarket, Astoria

Conductor: Never fear! The phantom of the train is here!

–7 Train

Overheard by: Alex

Posted on June 14, 2021
All Wednesday One-Liners, Astoria, Conductors, Family Ties, Fears, Girls, Grocery Stores, Harlem & Morningside Heights, Man's Best Friend, Medicine, Midtown & Hell's Kitchen, On Cell, On the Subway, One-liners, Passengers, Poop, Public Transportation, Theater, Vampires, Ghouls, and Ghosts, oh my!, Violence, Wednesday One-Liners, Weed, Weirdness, Women

I Run the Hobo Gauntlet Every Day

Yuppie girl: I need to get an exfoliant. You know that weird rough patch on my face?
Yuppie guy: Yeah.
Yuppie girl: I had it for a few weeks and just realized it was dead skin cells.
Yuppie guy: Ew.
Yuppie girl: Yeah, I just thought it was dried spit.

–Whole Foods check-out line, Columbus Circle

Overheard by: bathed and exfoliated daily

Posted on May 30, 2021
Grocery Stores, Health and Hygiene, Yuppies

This One Refuses to Come Out and Go Fetch Me a Beer

Pregnant woman on cell: I'd love to have another baby with him, but did you know he got two different girls pregnant in one year? (later in the conversation) Mmm-hmm, I know. Kids are annoying!

–7-Eleven

Overheard by: Jeffrey Rice

Posted on January 29, 2021
Grocery Stores, Kids, On Cell, Preggers, Pregnancy & Birth Control

But How Will You Put Me to Sleep?

Six-year-old boy pushing shopping cart: Daddy, look! Beer!
Dad: Yes, that’s beer.
Six-year-old boy: We have to get some beer.
Dad: No, we’re not getting any beer today.
Six-year-old boy, bummed: Okay, we won’t get any beer today.

–Gristedes Supermarket, 40th & 2nd

Posted on December 29, 2020
Dads, Drinks, Grocery Stores, Kids, Turtle Bay

The Detrimental Effects of Early Childhood Exposure to Candyland

Little girl: Dad. Dad. Dad.
Dad: Stop pulling on me. What?
Little girl, pointing up at an enormous black man: He looks like a big chocolate bar!
Dad, with a forced grin: She’s five.

–Line, Grace’s Market Place

Posted on September 12, 2020
Age/Aging, Apologies, Colors, Dads, Default, Girls, Grocery Stores, Kids, Physical appearance, Race, Upper East Side

Grocery Stores