An excerpt from the chapter, “Bob and Me,” from Beyond Chaos and Beyond: The Best of Trajectories, Vol. II. Scott tells this story in this podcast, but just in case you want to read it or share the text, here it is…

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This is my favorite story from our relationship: One Saturday evening in April or May 2005, circumstances dictated that I visited Bob alone. He was still somewhat ambulatory at this point, although it was a drain on his energy to pull himself up off his couch to do anything. At one point in the evening, he asked if I would pour him a cup of coffee. I did, and when I set it on the tray in front of him, he responded in abject humility: “Oh, thank you thank you thank you,” he chanted. I’d seen him respond similarly often in those days, giving an overly effusive response to a minor favor. “Bob,” I said. “Hey. It’s just us. Just you and me. How long have we known each other—thirty years now? There’s absolutely no need for you to be so profusely thankful about something as minor as getting you a cup of coffee. I’m happy to do it. I do what you ask because I want to.” He just looked at me…askance, I’d say, if pressed for an adverb. I hoped I hadn’t offended him somehow. But we returned to our conversation and everything seemed fine. Half an hour or so later, Bob asked if I could get him a glass of water, which I did immediately. And when I set it on his tray, he looked me square in the eye and said, “Fuck you!” ROTFL might be a metaphor, but I did in fact literally fall into my chair and laughed my fucking ass off. Bob was seated, but he L’d his FAO as well.