Me: "So, you did your medical internship at Hospital X? Maybe you know Madhouse Madman?"
2nd-Year Resident: "Oh, yeah. He's great. Actually, he told me to look out for you, that you'd be here. He said you two met online."
Me: "Uh, well, I wouldn't put it that way, really. I mean, I heard of him through his website..."
PGY-2: "You've never met him in person?"
Me: "No. I don't even know what he looks like. But I've seen pictures of his new daughter, though. And he just got back from this trip to Israel, it sounded nice."
PGY-2 pauses to wonder how I know these disparate pieces about a man I've never seen.
Me: "He leads a very public ... private life."
Escaped from the Madhouse
A conversation fragment from the incoming resident orientation (I used proper names in reality):