Overheard at ... The Gossip Boom

One thing I hate about Facebook is that you get too many random group invites, such as this one: Overheard at Harvard: "A compendium of interesting dialogue or muttering you happen to hear on or around campus." Ground rule of the group: You and your friends cannot quote each other. The goal of Overheard at Harvard is promote the sport of eavesdropping on strangers, whether it is intentional or accidental.

Ah ha, who would have known the Ivys have taken on the trendy "Overheard at ... " heat, after the kingdom of tittle-tattels at Overheard in New York, Overheard in the Office, and Overheard at the Beach, Overheard in the UK.

Just to quote some:

• Saturday night about 2 A.M., passing the Barker Center, guy on his cell phone: "No, see, I'd be a tool if I HAD gone to the party. I'm an anti-tool."

• Annenberg- meeting new people:
  "three of my roommates have INDIVIDUALLY beaten halo 3 this week"

• Overheard in a neighboring desk in an architecture studio at the Graduate School of Design...
  
  Professor: Where are your stairs? And where are the galleries and exhibition spaces? And where is the door?
  Student: I didn't feel the need to contemplate those issues.
  Professor: Your building has no purpose.
  Student: Does a building need to have a purpose?
  Professor: That question is so stupid, I will not even merit it with an answer.

• A couple walking through the yard outside Boylston:
  "Its like New York vs. L.A., they're always throwing condoms at each other."

• Woman doing tour in front of John Harvard statue:
  "In California you could tell which were the Japanese tourist by how many cameras they had around their necks."

This Overheard at... heat is big in other schools as well: UChicago, Vanderbilt, etc. McGill even has its own Overheard at website.

And yes, it goes without saying that the Harvard one is the dullest. I wonder why my friend send me that invitation!