You ask your coworker if she wants coffee. She stares at you with the exact expression of someone whose download just hit 0%. You wait. She blinks once, slowly, like a computer restarting. You repeat the question, slightly louder, as if volume is the problem and not the complete absence of her consciousness. She finally says "sorry, what?" — and you realize she heard you fine the first time; she was just deciding whether you deserved an answer.