Overhearing the Overheard

I carried on the proud tradition of appearing in Overheard in New York that was passed on to me by Blake Royer from about a week ago.

It's still rather funny, if I do say so, but now I can't get over the language I used. I say "say little black boy", because I needed to differentiate the colors of the two little children because the joke hinges on it. In retrospect, probably should have been "little African American boy", though even that sounds ridiculous. You never hear people referred to that in the overheard files. To rectify it, I called the little Caucasian girl a "little white girl", hoping that that would some how neutralize by poking fun at the other side, or at least carrying out a standard system. It is kind of fascinating that I still struggle with the proper way to describe people in this culture. I think other people do as well. But it's so hard to act polite when humor is involved.

Essentially what I learned is that you should never put your full name on the Overheard in New York submission sheet.

And yes it did happen on the 6 train.