Eavesdropping is a tricky business, but for those of us with fertile imaginations, it can be the most fun bit on a day out shopping. As you’re wandering the aisles you get to hear snippets of conversations and information from the people you pass. You might hear a couple trying to decide which brand of dog food their fussy pampered pooch will be happiest with, or you might witness the middle of a furtive argument over whether Dave’s mother is allowed to come and stay for 3 weeks in the summer. Walmart, full as it is of a wide cross-section of our society, provides the most interesting conversation snippets. And the best bit? We get to imagine the context and the outcome of the bits and pieces we hear, which is a lot of fun! Some of the examples we’ve found here, however, defy any explanation.

Hold your horses
I often find myself listening out for in-store announcements. Partly because I’m nosy and they can be interesting insights into what’s going on in the shop. Partly it’s because I’m always that little bit worried that it will be my car or my son that needs removing from somewhere they shouldn’t be.

For all my nosiness over the years, however, I’ve never heard a voice calling out over a tannoy asking someone to remove their horse from outside of the store. I’m all for eco-friendly transport, but surely you can’t get as much shopping on a horse as you can in a car. Also, what do you do with the manure?