A—— showed up for our meeting, and by way of greeting he whispered, “I can only whisper, I’ve got seasonal laryngitis.”

“Seasonal laryngitis?” I said.

“Happens about once a year,” he said. “My allergies get so bad I can’t talk.”

“My allergies have been bad this week, but not that bad,” I said. “My sinuses are constantly draining down the back of my throat. It feels like my brains have liquified and are draining out of my head.”

That made A—— laugh, which started him choking and wheezing, and I started choking and wheezing too, and when we finally managed to breathe normally again we started our meeting.

The Bay area is a great place to live if you don’t need to breathe.