Overheard in Harlem: Pathmark Edition

The Scene: The 125th Street Pathmark, on a Wednesday before noon

So I was taking a look at the selection of granola bars on display, honing in on the Fiber One variety (nine grams of fiber in one bar!), when I was momentarily disturbed by a scream from a few aisles away. A shout of "I fuckin' hate you!" was followed by a few other incomprehensible, angry verbal attacks, but my worry soon subsided when I remembered where I was. Yup, that's Harlem for you. The same neighborhood where a live chicken and rabbit have been spotted, on separate occasions, just mulling about, the same neighborhood where I've been yelled at to "get in the street, white girl!" while jogging along the sidewalk, the same neighborhood where my roommates have had a jar full of shit thrown at them from an apartment window above the street. Needless to say, a little domestic dispute at the grocery store wasn't any cause for alarm.

So I kept shopping. A few minutes later the offending couple passed by, the screaming woman with shopping cart just ahead of her stroller pushing (ex-?)boyfriend. She had yet to conclude her tirade, chastising the male for trying to re-enter their daughter's life after an extensive absence, to which he replied, defeated, "C'mon, it was four days!" The commotion they produced soon passed, and in the quiet wake of it all, a plump Hispanic man commented candidly, "That's love."