Office workers across the UK have shared their horror stories via video conference while working from home.
As remote work remains the norm for many businesses, virtual meetings through platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Google Meet have become an integral part of daily operations.
But there seems to be something about video team meetings that can pave the way for unexpected and awkward incidents.
A recent discussion on Reddit’s r/CasualUK subreddit has revealed some of the strangest and most humiliating moments experienced by employees during virtual meetings, including one person who had their cat defecate on camera.
Earlier this month, a user, known as u/federal-ad-5190, started the conversation by asking forum members about their “strangest Teams call.”
Office employees have shared the “strangest” incidents they have experienced with co-workers and clients during Teams calls while working from home.
Giving context to the question, they explained: ‘What is the strangest behavior you have seen (that is not criminal) on a video chat app?
‘I ask, since today one of my colleagues responded to a Teams call (with the camera on) without wearing a shirt. Which I thought was making the WFH wardrobe too relaxed.”
One person replied: ‘A colleague mowing the grass with the camera on. They could be seen coming and going through the patio doors. This was even before the pandemic!’
Describing a “super serious town meeting with a couple hundred participants,” another person recalled the mortifying moment their emotionally distraught cat walked into the room.
He said: ‘As the call began, said cat jumped onto my lap and I was instantly assaulted by the unmistakable stench of cat poop. My beloved furry son stepped in his own semi-liquid shit and consequently smeared me with it.”
“In a panic, I scream at my wife for help: ‘Fuck, I’m covered in cat shit. What the fuck? There is shit everywhere. Fuck. *gh*** I have to introduce myself in a minute and she’s spreading it all over the room.’
‘A moment of silence follows and then a faint voice from my speakers: “Ahem, you might want to mute yourself while you deal with that… problem.”‘
Another said: “My colleague was looking down writing in his notebook and saw a guy dressed only in his (underwear) pacing in the background and looking in the refrigerator for a couple of moments, taking a swig of something and then talking to his.’
One person wrote: ‘Colleague mowing the grass with the camera on. He could be seen coming and going through the patio doors. This was even before the pandemic!’
A recent discussion on Reddit’s r/CasualUK subreddit has revealed some of the strangest and most humiliating moments experienced by employees during virtual meetings.
They added: “At this point she looks back, looks in horror at the screen and all of our faces and closes her laptop.”
During a call with about twelve employees, one person described how one of them “just lit a cigarette,” adding, “It’s his house, so whatever, it made me wonder about the decorum of video calls at work.” . “It just came out unexpected.”
Another employee wrote: ‘We had an awards event via Zoom. The recipients knew they would receive an award from the bank’s CEO. One of the recipients decided that it was okay for her to be topless sunbathing in the garden while she received hers.
One person shared: “We were introduced to a new young colleague who certainly looked like Borat, then the boss’s partner leaned into the camera and told him he looked like Borat, while laughing.” We never saw or heard from him again.
Meanwhile, Samantha Hart, from Virginia, has poked fun at the recurring workplace struggle that plagues her every time she starts a new job, after revealing she is “always” left in an awkward position over the structure of jobs. email addresses.