I used to live in a very posh part of Kent. One of my favourite overheard conversations was in the small quaint village of Goudhurst, near Cranbrook. It went something like this:

Older, well dressed lady: Darling, how is that lovely boy, Dorian?
Younger, well dressed lady: The one with the amazing skin?
Older lady: No, the one with the Jag.
Younger lady: Oh him. Yes, he’s doing ok. But I think the Phd in cave painting was a monumental mistake.”

I love snippets of conversation and imagining how people talk to one another and what they say. This was why I was thrilled to find out today that there is a social media craze for snippets of chats “Overheard in Waitrose.” This hashtag has already gathered thousands of ‘likes’ as it gently mocks the supermarket’s fiercely middle-to-upper-class reputation by inviting shoppers to post humorous comments allegedly heard in the shop.

The page, which was launched just four days ago, has had people rolling in the ‘supermarket’ aisles.

Its description reads: “A page for publishing words often heard permeating the aisles of Britain’s poshest supermarket.”

Here are ten of the best comments (some very possibly imagined!) posted on the site:

1. “Noah! You’ve had enough Manchego for one day” while another reads: “Don’t we already have a wine thermometer dear?”

2. “This is a staff announcement: there has been a Champagne spillage in aisle four…oh no, my mistake, everyone calm down it’s only Cava.”

3. “Darling, do we need parmesan for both houses?”

4. “You know it’s Waitrose when chocolate brioche is considered essential…”

5. “No Jennie you can’t only serve olives at your tenth birthday party…now go and fetch a sirloin for the dog” and “Luciano behave! Children these days… I blame the au pairs.”

6. “Darling I don’t think this parmesan will fit in the new parmesan grater”

7. “Quentin, find a cake I can pass off as homemade for the village fête.”

8. “Daddy, does Lego have a silent T, like merlot?”

9. “Of course I would buy the smoked salmon, but it makes the Maserati smell like a fishmongers”

10. “Orlando, that is enough blueberries. I only need them to go on the top of the venison.”

It got me thinking, I wonder what people overhear when they listen to me on the phone or talking to my children. Do they get a jewel of joy or a mouthful of moaning…? Do they get something memorable or something instantly forgettable?

In the Bible a verse in Ephesians 4:29 ESV says:

“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”

How does your conversation measure up to this standard? I know that, at times, mine simply does not.

James 1:9 ESV says, “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.”

Lord help me to be someone who can be overheard in any situation in a way that blesses and builds up others. Help me be quick to listen to others, slow to speak and not fast to become angry. Especially in Waitrose.
Amen.