Thanks, random NMR technician guy!!
Note to Everyone: Under NO circumstance is "Are you ever going to graduate?" a nice question to ask a graduate student.
Maybe the person invested a lot of time and effort in an initial project that didn't generate publications. Maybe the person found it difficult to learn how to conduct (largely) independent research. Maybe they had some personal growth to do during grad school. Maybe they had to TA for half of grad school.
Maybe it's none of your business, and there's no need to go out of your way to make someone else's day just a little bit worse.
Maybe the person invested a lot of time and effort in an initial project that didn't generate publications. Maybe the person found it difficult to learn how to conduct (largely) independent research. Maybe they had some personal growth to do during grad school. Maybe they had to TA for half of grad school.
Maybe it's none of your business, and there's no need to go out of your way to make someone else's day just a little bit worse.