100 Days of Lockdown
Last week I reached out to my twitter pals and asked them to share with me what they find themselves regularly saying now that, at the turn of the year they rarely or never said. Maybe when you read this you will hear yourself … I know I did!
Unprecedented - a word I, personally, have come to hate
You’re on mute!’ - how many times I have uttered this and also for some reason accompanied it with actions even though I’m not the one on mute?!
The cheery wee waves at the end of meetings - #savethewave, a movement to save the wave at the end of meetings
Next chapter - sometimes it feels like a never ending chapter
You’re breaking up, try switching off your camera - you see we are all IT experts now
I think X is trying to join us…. - as someone pops up on screen and promptly disappears again
Recovery - followed by ‘plan’
Try leaving and coming back in again - have you ever said that in a face to face meeting? You might have wanted to…
Bubble - a new form of the ‘in’ group perhaps
Blended learning - still a sore topic here in Scotland I think
Social distancing - and many of us trying to replace social with physical, because it’s still OK to make eye contact and smile you know
I can’t, I’m zooming - a new verb to many (keep reading for more)
What day is it? - as in that weird bit between Christmas and New Year only it’s gone on for a lot longer…
When we were in the real world - when we could hug and sit in the same room as people from another household
I know, it’s disappointing - this one makes me sad, all the celebrations and occasions that have not happened, not been as they should have been
Who’s got the spray (electrostatic) - not one I’ve heard myself
Can you hear me? - bet you’ve never said that in a meeting before?
The situation is fluid - and then some
When we get back to normal - some parts of normal I think we need to leave behind
Dysregulation - I think we’ve all felt that at some point, if not often
I’m going to share my screen, can you see my slide - I’m definitely guilty of this, I think I am surprised each time it actually works
Will we just meet in teams? - the new cool place to hang out but bring your own coffee
Zoom fatigue - it’s a real thing
Following the science - and yet we all do something different
I muted you - he muted me! - this one made me laugh
I’m all webinared out - aren’t we all?
Oops sorry, I’m still on mute - needs no further comment
Say that again - …because I only got every 4th word
STOP…..You’re not on mute - this also made me laugh, I can’t imagine what was happening
We’ll just wait a few more minutes for the others to join us and then we will start - some meetings are a bit awkward at the start, sometimes I show people what’s on my desk
oh..oh, no, sorry - you go - we’ve all done it and then neither of you go!
Banana bread - and sourdough and elderflower cordial (I caved and have my elderflower cordial infusing as I type)
Try re-starting your computer - says every IT person everywhere, no matter the initial query
Stay back / have you emailed your teacher to tell them / I need wine - you’ve probably seen this play out in many homes across the land
Can you please mute - will we have this facility in the ‘new normal’, it could come in handy on the odd occasion
Can you turn of your cameras for bandwidth - it does work! Well sometimes…
Who painted the picture on the wall behind you? - or what’s the book you have just on your left shoulder?
I’m hoping to gain more clarity - i.e. I have no idea
David, do you have your hand up? - not you again david!
You’re frozen…no you’re back again…no you’re frozen again - cue a song….let it go…
My wee boy would ask me to ‘relocate’ as I’m too loud - brilliant, something I think many of us who have worked in open plan offices wish we could have suggested on more than one occasion to ‘that’ colleague (you know the one)
Is your gazebo really pink - no it’s green but on any Meet it turns an attractive shade of fuchsia
Are you up yet and have you checked teams yet - parents of teens may relate to this
I’m going to the shops….where’s my face hammock - I must admit ‘face hammock’ was a new one for me.
Special thanks to Amanda Corrigan for introducing us to use of zoom as a verb
I zoom
You zoom
We zoom
They zoom
We are zooming
We zoomed
We will zoom
And her favourite - we are all zoomed out
Language is one of the ways we make sense of the world around us and these phrase have become part of how we have narrated the last 100 days. It has helped us to make sense of the world and how dramatically it changed. As we move forward it will be interesting to see what emerges, what stays and what goes.
For now though, let’s all #savethewave
