This American Life

I sat in the parking lot of Super 88 Market in Malden, MA to finish listening to today's This American Life episode on WBUR. The weather was extremely pleasant, sunny, very breezy perhaps even windy, low humidity, early fall like weather. I rolled down the windows, sat behind the steering wheel of Trogodor and listened. It was hilarious. Hilarious in the sense that life is so silly, reality is entertaining.

Since my car radio wasn't turned on until 3:30pm or so, I was able to catch the last part of the program. It was about the host Ira Glass tagging along a private investigator named "Jonathan" around Chicago suburbs. "Jonathan" was working on a cheating case that the husband was paying him $50/hr for surveillance on the wife.

Ira and Jonathan encountered a few things that you and I might find interesting in the world of the private eyesb. The wife left to meet her lover an hour late; she never noticed the PI's car following her even though it was quite a long drive and they were right behind her car; she took her time to reach the restaurant, a very un-romantic, large, family oriented place; and the guy she was meeting had rude table manners that made him not so attractive. Hmmm. Then it took Jonathan another 5 days to finally catch them going home together, completing his case. Of course, the husband was calling his wife "that lying bitch" when Jonathan confirmed his suspicions. Ira made this scene so satisfying with his cool and articulate delivery.

The best part was the demographic of this couple. They are like in their mid-20's! I was certain that, from all the PI scenes in the movies, people who hire PI's to spy on their spouses are almost all mid-aged couples who have been married for a while. Perhaps their marriage was getting dull, things weren't as exciting and one or another was looking for some fun outside of the marriage. I'm not sure why I found it so funny but perhaps I was entertained because it surprised me. Ira definitely made a note of that.

Listen by clicking on the link above if you want to hear it for yourself.