[Part 1 here. TW: bad amateur fiction!]
Gerald’s eyes widened as he tried to recall Lois’s family situation. Recent Facebook posts had suggested that she was happy in her marriage and happy to be a mom.
“Soooo,” he began tentatively. “This is good news — right?”
“Oh, yes — for sure. Keith is almost two now, so we figured, what the heck, let’s give him a sibling.” She shrugged with mock indifference.
“Well, congratulations!” he said, regaining his composure. He pointed them toward Cafe Nation, the coffee shop in the student center. “Can I pay for your tea in lieu of a baby shower gift?”
She chuckled generously, then added: “Actually, I’ll be buying the beverages today. I’m even throwing in an overpriced scone. Don’t try to stop me!”
“I can’t remember what I said in my email,” she continued as they walked, “but I wanted to thank you again for being my lab mentor all those years ago.”
“Oh, Lois –“
She waved him off. “I mean, I know I gave you that amazing golf book when I graduated — “
“Hey, it was a fine choice! I actually was playing golf at the time –“
“…But my point is that now — years later — I have a much better sense of what I gained from that year in your lab.”
“OK, I’m listening!” said Gerald. It was time to shut up and be lionized.
“To start with the obvious, you instilled in me some important habits with respect to keeping a good lab notebook and all that. You know, writing in pen, dating each entry, all that stuff. But I probably could have learned that in other labs, too.
“I think what I appreciate most now, in hindsight, is that you somehow gave me just the right amount of support. Like, you seemed to know what I could do on my own and what I would need help with. Every boss I’ve had since then has either given me way too much advice, or way too little.”
She stopped to double-check that claim, then nodded to herself. It was unfortunate but true. Gerald nodded as well.
“But there was another thing, too, I think.” They were at the cafe now, but she was on a roll. “You had a way of bridging the gap between the experiment du jour and the long-term possibilities. You showed me that, to be successful, you need to keep BOTH in mind simultaneously. Dreaming the dream is valuable, but so is pipetting the right volume of the right buffer into each well so that your controls will work. And” — her voice broke slightly — “you’ve got to find some joy in that round of pipetting, or at least some satisfaction in it, or else you’re gonna screw it up. And it was you — you, Professor Cutler!” — she pointed at him triumphantly, as if fingering the culprit in a murder mystery — “who first taught me that. Even if you didn’t quite articulate it as I’m doing right now.”
She was done for the moment.
“OK, two thoughts,” Gerald said. “One: thank you for the truly amazing compliment. It’s almost too good to spoil with a joke, but, two: have you considered writing greeting cards for scientists?”
Oops, he thought, too flippant.
“Or,” he added, “maybe … presiding over their funerals? You’ve got a great start on my eulogy…”
“Good grief!” she said. “Let’s order.”
[Update: part 3 is now available.]
My Track Record 
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