"What surprises me is when people give me their mobile number. The other day, someone on a bus asked if I swear. I said I try not to, but of course I'm just a normal person"
About this Quote
Then comes the bus anecdote, which lands like a tiny absurdist sketch. "Do you swear?" is a strange question to ask anyone, but it's especially telling when aimed at an actor: the stranger isn't really asking about vocabulary, they're asking whether the public persona matches their private expectation of decency. Parker's answer, carefully hedged ("I try not to"), performs politeness while refusing sainthood. The tag line - "of course I'm just a normal person" - is the quiet punch. It's defensive without being bitter, a reminder that fame doesn't cancel ordinary habits and flaws.
The subtext is about the exhausting demand for moral legibility. In a culture that treats actors as both entertainment products and personal companions, strangers feel entitled to access (the phone number) and to judgment (the swearing test). Parker plays it lightly, but the joke is also a boundary marker: you can recognize me, but you don't get to rewrite me.
Quote Details
| Topic | Witty One-Liners |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Parker, Christopher. (2026, January 15). What surprises me is when people give me their mobile number. The other day, someone on a bus asked if I swear. I said I try not to, but of course I'm just a normal person. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/what-surprises-me-is-when-people-give-me-their-160149/
Chicago Style
Parker, Christopher. "What surprises me is when people give me their mobile number. The other day, someone on a bus asked if I swear. I said I try not to, but of course I'm just a normal person." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/what-surprises-me-is-when-people-give-me-their-160149/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"What surprises me is when people give me their mobile number. The other day, someone on a bus asked if I swear. I said I try not to, but of course I'm just a normal person." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/what-surprises-me-is-when-people-give-me-their-160149/. Accessed 10 Feb. 2026.








