Tell Us A Secret

Sunday, Flyby wandered Harvard Square and the surrounding area, asking people to divulge their secrets (identities kept completely anonymous, of course). Between the wealth of confused faces and people who just walked away, we got some interesting stories:

1. Token Tourist (wearing a Harvard sweatshirt, holding a very large camera, and standing in front of the John Harvard statue).

Flyby:  Hi, I'm a reporter for the Harvard Crimson. Can I ask you a question?

TT: You...go to Harvard?

Flyby: Yeah.

TT: Sure.

Flyby: Can you tell me a secret?

TT: What?

Flyby: A secret. Tell me something that no one knows—I won't tell anyone it's you.

TT: Okay…

Flyby: Come on. Just one thing. I won't tell anyone.

TT: Well, I guess. [Whispers into Flyby's ear]. I have a dead body in my basement.

Flyby: Really? No you don't.

TT: [shakes head]. No, I don't. But wouldn't that be great for your article?

2. Person Taking Advantage of the Sun (sitting in Harvard Yard on a blanket, wearing shorts and flip-flops).

Flyby: Hi, I'm a reporter for The Harvard Crimson. Tell me a secret.

PTAOTS: So that you can put it in the paper? No.

Flyby: I won't reveal your identity.

PTAOTS: You promise? [Smiles].

Flyby: Of course I do.

PTAOTS: Okay. You ready?

Flyby: Yeah.

PTAOTS: I don't go here.

Flyby: What?

PTAOTS: I go to Wellesley. I just come to Harvard for the parties.

Flyby: So it actually happens.

PTAOTS: Of course it does [laughs]. My friends and I come on Saturday afternoons, do work in Harvard Yard, and find a party to go to in the evening.

Flyby: But it's Sunday afternoon now.

PTAOTS: Yeah.

Flyby: I take it Saturday night got a little carried away?

PTAOTS: Yeah…

3. Student Walking by the River (wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt, carrying a blue backpack, trying to text message while walking).

Flyby: Hi, I'm a reporter for The Crimson. Do you have a secret that you want to tell me?

SWBTR: What? No.

Flyby: Come on. I'm writing a story about secrets, and I need one more. I won't tell people who you are.

SWBTR: Well, I guess. What kind of secret?

Flyby: Anything really. Preferably something interesting.

SWBTR: Okay. I went in the steam tunnels once.

Flyby: Harvard's steam tunnels?

SWBTR: No, Yale's—yes of course Harvard's steam tunnels.

Flyby: Wow. Okay. How were they?

SWBTR: They were awesome. I went almost a quarter mile underground.

Flyby: Did you break in?

SWBTR: Yeah, I went right through the basement of—