  Water cooler chit chat at work. We don't have a water cooler so we all stand around the register. Normally this is discouraged, but sometimes I think it drastically improves morale and can be very very productive. For example today, we made a totally non-professional diagnosis of what the hell is wrong with Bob, the Sucky Computer Consultant. We have decided, based on our collective knowledge on the subject gained from a) watching one episode of "Law and Order" in which expert testimony delivered by actors covered the subject, b) one NPR piece one time that somebody heard while they were driving and c) some articles that Trini read for her previous job-- that Bob the Computer Consultant is autistic.
Whether or not he actually is is beside the point because we all decided he was and therefore decided that was how we were going to deal with him whenever he called. And then he called three times and the first time Barb talked to him like she always did and he got all flustered and annoyed with her and was very rude and she got upset. The next time he called, she dealt with him keeping in mind our new diagnosis and things went swimmingly.
Ditto for conversation number three. So the new rule for talking to Bob is to just let him get through his rehearsed speech, give him very specific details of any problems the computer is having- give him the details repeatedly if he asks, don't use metaphors or slang and then hang up. This seems to make him happy. Which makes us happy. 
