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On the bus home yesterday, I sat down with a good book (actually, a book that is by a former Salon columnist, but I'm not brown-nosing, just telling the truth for once), and next to an attractive woman. Behind us, and I'm not sure how far behind us, but perhaps two rows, there was a young woman on the phone. And the young woman proceeded to tell someone on her phone, and by extension everyone on the bus, all about this wonderful job opportunity she had, where these people would have her temping somewhere for about 50 days and then she'd have two weeks paid vacation, and they'd pay for her transportation, and an apartment (a "corporate apartment", which she made sound so enticing) and a rental car, and wasn't this the perfect thing for her to be doing right now?
And I have to admit, I was sorry to get off the bus, even though it was my spot, because I thought it was a pretty interesting opportunity myself. And I wanted to hear more, but to hear more I'd have had to stay on the bus. Or perhaps get the cellphone number of the attractive woman next to me, and have her give me updates. But I couldn't get the number because she was so engrossed in the other woman's conversation I couldn't get her attention. Plus, how could she listen properly if she'd have to give me the equivalent of simultaneous translation. And of course bus etiquette now is that you have to talk at the top of your lungs, so the rest of the bus could hear, but then the rest of the bus would have told her to pipe down, they were listening to the woman with the great job opportunity. And anyway, the job would have been taken, if not by the woman on the phone, then by any of the twenty or so others listening raptly to her conversation.
Welcome to the 21st century, everyone. In the 20th century, everybody knew your name. In the 21st, everybody knows your business. So I guess it's all right if the government does, too.
