I Heard It in the Berry Field

  You have heard the song, “Heard it on the Grapevine”, right? Well I am here to tell you I have heard it all in the Berry Field! I have a blueberry patch that I worry about year round. This year all my worrying did not prevent some frost or disease when the blueberries were blossoming. What this means is that I am not getting any blueberries from 3 of my mature bushes. I have been almost inconsolable. To get me out of my funk and to stop worrying about the remaining bushes, I went to my local u-pick blueberry farm.

This blueberry farm has u-pick, about a dozen varieties and commercial bushes too. They have acres of blueberries. The bushes are between 5 and 6 feet tall, very leafy and lush. If you are picking your blueberry bush you cannot see people a row or two over from you but you can hear them. The bushes give a sense of seclusion. So what do people talk about when they think no one is listening?

Women friends talk about their kids, their partners, other friends and flat out gossip because they think no one else can hear. Some tidbits overheard are just down-right juicy. I will pick parallel to these women just to hear the end of the story. It is disappointing when they leave or when all I can hear are conversations in Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese or Russian, none of which I can understand!

Mothers talk with their kids, and if they are little it is all about manage control so they can get a few pounds of berries picked. Most of these conversations consist of, “Good Job “, “How many do you have now”, “You are such a good helper” etc. I heard a Mother try to explain blueberry nutritional benefits to a toddler in the “Why” phase.

Teenagers usually make the picking a competition. They also sooner or later start throwing berries and farting. This would be teenage boys. Teenage girls will talk with their Moms a bit and they will talk with each other. Couples with-out kids talk about their week or upcoming events. I now know bits of trivia, and interesting gossip of people I don’t know that I never would have heard if I wasn’t in the berry field.

Did you ever think someone may be overhearing your conversation? Would it make a difference if it was a stranger you could not see? If you knew would you tone it down or spice it up?