An activist interrupts a group of yuppie chicks having a discussion.
Activist: Do you have a minute for gay rights?
Chick #1: Sorry.
Activist: Have a good day.
He leaves them to their conversation.
Chick #1: Then he’s been getting after me about how I’m selfish, and about how selfish I am.
–Union Square
NYU Girl: I saw her on the subway. She was wearing pink Ugg boots, bright pink stockings, a short skirt and a ton of eyeliner, and then she turns around and I see that she’s got a Bush/Cheney sticker slapped across her ass!
NYU Guy: Well, that’s a moment when you want to ask her Who do you work for, and how much are they paying you to do this?
–Broadway & East 9th Street
Strand Guy: Hey, John! How are you?
John: Seven days, man. Seven days.
Strand Guy: Hopefully the world will be safe for democracy.
John: I dunno. Halliburton has some no bid contracts.
Strand Guy: You believe that?!
John: Yeah.
–Strand Basement
Statler: My kid just told me he’s making the ultimate sacrifice.
Waldorf: Really?
Statler: He told me that it’d be okay for the Red Sox to beat the Yankees, as long as George Bush loses the election.
Waldorf: My god.
–14th Street YMCA
Yuppie: Democracy only works when you work to make the laws you want happen. Have you ever worked to get a law passed?
Hipster: Yes, I have, as a matter of fact!
Yuppie: Okay. What issue was it, and what did you do?
Hipster: Give me some time to think about it, I’m sure that I once did something but I don’t remember it this second.
— Cobble Hill, Brooklyn
Old Coot: When you take over someone’s empire, you get more of them coming in. I turned on the ball game, and the stadium was all Spanish! This guy came to talk to me from the Daily News, and it turned out to be El Diario!
–Carmine St.
Chick: He’s like an ultraconservative and he was watching Bush’s speech and yelling and saying “You guys don’t know what’s going on!”. It was crazy.
–Washington Square Park
Man: What do you give a 16 year old Republican besides a kick in the teeth?
–Barnes & Nobles, Park Slope
Midwestern tourist lady #1: So last night we saw this great show, Fela!, about this musician. It was so moving, and I learned so much about that political situation…
Midwestern tourist lady #2: Which political situation?
Midwestern tourist lady #1: Well, you know, the political situation in Nigeria… And how Fela, like, helped to change it.
Midwestern tourist lady #2: But what was the situation?
Midwestern tourist lady #1: Just like, the political situation in Nigeria.
Midwestern tourist lady #2: I see. Well, I'll try to get tickets!
–F Train
Collegiate boy to group of friends: Well, if you think about it, if you've met one person you've basically met everyone.
–6th Ave & West 4th St
Overheard by: Lucas
Guy to friend: I went to the anarchists' meeting, but they turned out to just be a group of spoiled, white, middle-class kids.
–Union Square
Overheard by: Kate Deshmukh
Loud lady on cell: Yeah, just meet me here. I'll be in the basement in the sexuality section.
(pause, then even more loudly) Basement! Sex!
–The Strand
Overheard by: April
Redhead girl: No, I totally want you to meet him–I just don't want him to meet you.
–47th St & Broadway
Overheard by: Rick
