I was expecting to go back to Mark’s party last night after getting coffee with Rob, but coffee with Rob turned into a two-hour event.

Rob wanted to get coffee because it was his last day in Southern California, so I felt a little guilty inviting a bunch of people he didn’t know to join us. He knew Traci already, so that wasn’t an issue, but he didn’t know Shauna, and when Brandy and Dustin called, I invited them to join us as well, and he didn’t know them either.

I think he was a little disturbed when Brandy and Dustin showed up because he realized he was suddenly outnumbered by friends of mine he’d never met. But much to my astonishment, Rob and Brandy complemented each other’s conversation perfectly. They both tend to dominate conversation, but they apparently also both enjoy the same topics.

Topics of conversation ranged from the appropriate age for having children, the need for an adoption process for dogs, the distinction between animal consciousness and human consciousness, and finally the topic that stayed with us the longest: poop.

We talked about poop for at least an hour. Human poop. People pooping. That’s what our conversation was reduced to. Brandy talked about some guy at school who had an embarrassing experience, Rob talked about how women won’t “commit” to pooping, and Liz talked about the fact that she won’t poop anywhere except her own bathroom.

So coffee with Rob turned out to be quite interesting for everyone involved despite the fact that one half of the group had never met the other half. I think Rob really enjoyed his last night here, and I have a feeling he’ll want to hang out with Brandy again the next time he comes to visit. You know, to share poop stories.