things overheard

*Today at school two white girls were walking behind me and complaining about their Black Studies class. "She doesn't get it," one of them said of the professor. "She just overreacts to everything. I mean, I grew up in an all-black neighborhood so I can call black people niggers and it's no big deal, you know? But she would just freak out if I said that, you know?"

*The other day on the bus, a woman got on and was talking to, or rather talking at another woman. "I'm glad I don't live downtown anymore," she was saying. "I used to live downtown but there are too many crazy people. I'm glad I moved." The other lady didn't respond. The speaker said, "Yup, there are a lot of weirdos downtown. My friend got her purse snatched."
The other lady replied, "Oh my goodness." The storyteller continued, "Yeah, she was about to go shopping so she had about a hundred dollars in there. She was waiting for the trolley when she felt someone tug on her shoulder. All of a sudden this guy had her purse and he was running away so she chased after him. She got hit by a car."
The other lady said, "Oh no."
The speaker nodded and added, "She died." The bus was silent. After a moment of contemplation the speaker said, "I don't think they ever caught the guy who stole her purse, either."