me: Boss asked me to get a quote for CO2 from Air Liquide.
Mr Potato: Why? Aren’t we already using Air Liquide?
me: No, all our gas comes from Afrox.
Mr Potato: But Air Liquide is the gold standard in science.
me: WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ANYBODY THIS EARLIER?
Mr Potato: Because I had no idea we were using Afrox!
Backstory: We’ve been having trouble growing macrophages and Boss is convinced it’s due to the carbon dioxide supply being contaminated with chemicals from the tanks. (Mammalian cells are usually cultured in air with added 5% carbon dioxide.) Mrs. Boss was tasked with putting together some home-made chemical scrubbers, basically, cylinders filled with activated charcoal, but hasn’t gotten around to it for months. Meanwhile Postdoc and I have not been able to do macrophage experiments because they keep dying…