What I think Bob should do, and what I’ll do when encountering an Alice, is to be more supportive and perhaps encourage them to talk more about the thing they seem to want to talk about.
When Bob can’t tell the difference, Alice becomes a natural enemy of Carol, who wants pointers on technical details rather than generic encouragement.
When Bob can’t tell the difference, Alice becomes a natural enemy of Carol, who wants pointers on technical details rather than generic encouragement.