What’s up everyone? My name is Jason Georges and I’m a junior in the school of Industrial and Labor Relations. I transferred to Cornell from NYU after my freshman year and I’m really enjoying Cornell so far. I especially like ILR because it allows me to take courses in many different disciplines like econ, collective bargaining, history, and law and doesn’t lock me down to one area of study. On campus I’m on the steering committee for the Cornell Ambassadors, involved in the Interfraternity Council (IFC), and active in my fraternity.
I’m originally from NYC and I think it’s the greatest place in the world. So you’re probably wondering if I love the city so much then why did I transfer out of NYU? Basically I wanted to spend my undergraduate career away from the city in a place that had an actual campus and what could be more un-NYC than Ithaca/Cornell. However, to stay connected to the city I checkout Overheard in New York (www.overheardinnewyork.com) on a daily basis. Overheard in NY is a blog that posts fragments of conversations overheard by bystanders in New York City. Most of the conversations are hilarious and point out the wittiness of life in NYC. Because the conversations are overheard by bystanders the people in the conversation are usually referred to by a generic names such as “bimbette,” “dumb tourist,” “hipster,” etc.
So why do so many people participate in this Internet phenomenon? I believe that one reason is purely for entertainment. The internet is crowded with news sites such as Google News and nytimes.com. Many people just want a break from that type of media and so they turn to sites that are purely for entertainment such as TMZ.com and YouTube. What is more entertaining than laughing at people that you don’t know? A lot of times I’ll be reading through the Overheard in NYblog and I’ll l literally start laughing out loud because I can imagine myself seeing the conversation happen in real life. The second major reason that I think people contribute to the site is because for whatever reason they enjoy laughing at the cluelessness or naivety of others. I know that it sounds mean but hearing people say dumb things makes you feel better about yourself because you believe that you’re more intelligent than they are.
The “overheard blog” phenomenon has become so popular that it has spread to Chicago, Philly, Pittsburgh, and other cities across the country. There’s even an Overheard at Cornell version (http://overheardatcornell.blogspot.com). I’ll post some of my good ones below. Enjoy!
-Overheard at Cornell-
Girl 1: So, I bought this new outfit the other day... I gave it to my roommate to try on cause I wasn't sure if I liked how it looked or not. But I do.
Girl 2: Why weren't you sure?
Girl 1: Well, my roommate is like 4'11'' and it looks good on her but I'm way taller and it looks really skanky on me.
Girl 2: How skanky?
Girl 1: Pretty skanky, but I'm going to wear it tonight anyway.
-Bailey Hall
Balcher 1: What's going on tonight?
Balcher 2: I dunno, apparently everyone and their mom is going saki bombing tonight.
Balcher 3: Why are people's moms here?
-Balch Hall
Bro #1: The other night I got so drunk ... I went on facebook and started
messing around and had no idea what was I was doing ... and I wrote on my
own wall.
Bro #2: Dude, that's awesome.
-Willard Straight Hall
-Overheard in New York-
God Squad Lady: Praise Jesus! You won't be saved without Jesus! You have to start believing in Jesus to be saved! Jesus will always be there for you!
Suit #1: Would it be so awful if we pushed her out when the doors open?
Suit #2: No. Jesus will save her.
--4 Train
Tourist man: Pardon me, officer, can you tell us where Orchard Street is?
Cop: See that naked Chinese guy?
Tourist man: Ummm...Yeah.
Cop: Walk down to him and make a left.
Tourist man: Um, thanks.
Cop: No problem.
--Corner of Delancey Street
Bimbette #1: Cancun is just a place for girls to go to on Spring break and be the whores that they really are.
Bimbette #2: Oh my God, I know! We should go there next year!
Bimbette #1: Totally!
--45th St & 5th Ave
Older woman: Excuse me, miss?
Younger woman: Yeah?
Older woman: Your veil, your burqa is very beautiful. I didn't know your people were allowed to wear it in bright colors.
Younger woman: It's not a burqa, it's a poncho. I'm Jewish. It's for the rain. I got it at TJ Maxx.
--53rd & 7th
Chick: Omigod, I totally want an Asian baby. Asians make the best mixers. Like vodka.
--49th & 10th
3 comments:
Hey Jason! I'm a big fan of overheard in NY too! I even bought the book from barnes & nobles (but the website is funnier than the book). I agree with you that this site is purely entertainment. I love reading some of the ridiculous things people say and being like "WHAT?!?" or "omg what an idiot". People need a break from real news and work. Overheard is funny and a lot of the conversations you read are so typical of NYC. You can even tell what part of the city the conversation was heard...like Greenwich Village. I feel that it is part of human nature to laugh at other people's stupid mistakes/accidents. I mean who doesn't think its funny watching someone trip and fall? (unless it's a serious injury...then not so funny).
After reading your post I want to go on the site and see what other funny conversations people have had. Those comments were hilarious and I love hearing things like that. It’s amazing how many times I wish that the funny comments were written down in life and not that I’m actually going to post on it but I think it’s great that this exists. I noticed that no online space was identified and if I had to choose based on what you have explained, I would say it is part of the World Wide Web. However, there seems to be some interaction between people because multiple users can post on the site, which would make it in some aspects an asynchronous chat but I’m not really sure it would fit into that category. I’m glad you wrote about this though because I found myself laughing at some of those examples and thank you for opening my eyes to another internet phenomenon that I have yet to explore.
Jason. Like Dina and Rachel said, I think the site is hilarious. I agree completely with you in that it is an entertainment site, but what about the social and relational affects of this site? Do people create a stronger sense of NYC because of this site, is it a unifier? Is it a site where you take it on faith that everyone is from NY and that what is said is real? I don't want to be the devil's advocate, cause I really do agree how hilarious it is. I just thought I'd throw some of those thoughts out there to think about. Are people genuine with their posts? Does it matter at all? Should it be for just New Yorkers?
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