I overheard this exchange between a nine-year-old boy and his mom’s wimpy new-age boyfriend, who I’ll call Claude.

The boy said, “I hate you, Claude.”

“Thank you,” said Claude.

“No, I hate you, Claude.”

“Thank you,” said Claude.

“Why are you saying thank you?” asked the boy.

“Because you expressed an emotion that was authentic at the time that you expressed it, which was hate,” said Claude. He said it very fluidly, as though he’d said this many times before.

So I said, “Now I really hate you, Claude.”