There was a clip a few years back of Professor Robert Kelly talking live to the BBC from his South Korean home when his two children walked in on him. Kelly's wife burst through the door to try to salvage the situation. The video went viral and the episode stuck in my head. It was hilarious and so so human and we all could relate.
With COVID 19 on our doorsteps, we find ourselves open to similar-type follies while working from home. Suddenly we are working with our loved ones close by who we enjoy spending time with on the weekends, in the mornings and at night but that middle part of the day where we have our own lives and make our own way provides an opportunity for us to get to know each other in a new way or in a new light! Sometimes it’s a way to strengthen relationships, or possibly flounder under these stressful times, but no matter what, it is guaranteed to leave us with some new working from home follies!
Here are just three good old fashioned follies of the Reader’s Digest Laughter Is The Best Medicine type I’ve encountered in just the last few days of working at home.
The Naked Truth
Yesterday a friend of mine proudly sent me pictures of her family’s new everyone-working-at-home set up: Two kids working diligently on their school work at makeshift desks in the living room while my friend’s husband sat in the kitchen working away. Very smartly, her own at home office was set up in her bedroom safely tucked away from distraction! Or so she thought until this morning when she was on a video conference call and her husband decided it was time to take a shower! Just going about his business like any normal day, he undressed in the bedroom and sauntered into the bathroom…all happening in the background of her video call!
Unplugged
My own husband is also at home…just the two of us and our cats. I was listening to our Leadership Team talking about our plan as a firm, sharing next steps, and giving examples of those who are making efforts across the firm to improve their remote working environments and sharing tips and tricks. At that moment my husband decided it was really important to unplug the wifi. I’m still not entirely sure why he did it, but everything froze up and it took about 5 minutes to get back to the call!
Doggie Downer
Henri, a colleague’s dog, decided he was going to share the treadmill or maybe even just get some exercise on his own. Although no videos were taken, I’m sure it was a sight to behold when the poor pooch ended upside down!
It would be great to get some of your stories for a bit of comic relief while we are all waiting and wondering what is going to happen next! Please add your stories to my LinkedIn and make someone’s day!