Things overheard in the C concourse at IAH-
Yeah, I did a loan for this morning news anchor. He only made like a hundred twenty thousand.”
There was a burly guy pacing around waving his hands while he was loudly conversing on his cell phone-
“If you can get him instead of paying Moss 7 million, why not do it? ” … “The Lions were counting on him. I guess he’s not going anywhere. ” … “He was pretty happy in Minnesota until Culpepper got to him.” … “He’s the only left tackle in free agency this year.” … “If it comes to payin Randy Moss or … Mendenhall looks pretty good. I think you have a good chance to get Turner.” … “Didn’t we draft him?”
Lamentations on Chemistry 
I love people-watching at the airport.
Passengers trying to “charm” their way into first class.
The stereotypical single girl crying while waiting to board her plane.
One passenger talking to his/her drug-induced dog (briefly rescued from the constraints of the mesh duffle bag) in between flights.
My favorite are the guys on their phones talking/yelling about travel mishaps. Suddenly the entire terminal finds out that their personal secretary misscheduled the second flight, which resulted in a missed plane, which resulted in them not being able to make it to San Francisco for a meeting that will result in the loss of $50 million, which is then followed by how well they golfed over the weekend (usually a fib of ~10 points).
I never really have time to people watch, I’m always almost late for my flight.
Acually, this took place in March. I just happened to run into the file where I kept it. The loudmouth guy was apparently an agent.
Taleb agrees with listening. You never know what you could learn.
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2008/06/talebs-harsh-assessment-of-bankers.html