Are you self-conscious about the backdrop of your home while working from home?

[Yavin4]

Are you taking steps to ensure that your webcam does not pick up how untidy your home is in the background while you're on a conference call with your co-workers?

Or, that you have some really weird art hanging on the walls?

Or, those dead bodies that you have hanging around because you couldn't get out to dispose of them because of that whole social distancing thing? Am I right?

[LAS14]

1. I'm not working from home, but I love seeing the homes..

... of all the CNN and PBS people. Looks like people are still reading books!!

But I do go to church via zoom. My backgrond is book cases too.

[mcar]

3. One of them had two cats snoozing on the couch while he was doing his piece

[dewsgirl]

2. LoL🤣😂

[ret5hd]

4. We have beautiful tiles behind the toilet...

So no problem.

[Skittles]

7. omg

I once paged an on-call and when he called back, as I was relating the issue to him, I stopped and asked, Are you......PISSING???? He quickly said he would call me back and hung up.

[shanti]

10. It's that unforgettable tinkle

[Skittles]

21. I understand people need to pee

but.....it just felt DISRESPECTFUL, ya know? EGREGIOUS!

[MontanaMama]

58. Even more offensive

if the dude didn’t wash his hands after.

[3catwoman3]

59. And being a dude, chances are good...

...that he didn't.

[LizBeth]

19. lol

[LakeArenal]

11. Ahhh trumpdump style.

[Ms. Toad]

5. Yes. I have to teach from home -

So every single one of my students gets to see me at home.

House is untidy - camera pointed away from the untidy.

We upped the ante on my background. I'm in a recliner (I don't have a work station since I've always worked entirely from work), but a giant frog is sitting behind my head now. Occasionly my cat (who also occasionally walks across my laptop). The frog blocks the mirror that threatens to display the mess.

No dead bodies, unless you count the mice my cat tortured but didn't finish off.

[Hortensis]

35. :) Sounds nice for them.

[Ms. Toad]

36. Yes & no

They get to see me less formally - we've gone to CR/NCR so I don't have to be so strict on grades - and - we are moving into the period when I want them to see me as their best buddy (I have to prepare them for the bar exam after graduation, and I need to be approachable).

Not so good, since teaching a live class remotely is an art I have not yet mastered. My first full class will be Monday - but during our time off I've interacted with groups ranging from 1 to 30+. I have always known I depend heavily on audience reaction to adjust what I am doing & it is very hard to gauge audience reaction when I'm the only one talking and (so far) only a few are willing to be on video. I'm debating whether to require video. That will be a challenge for those with less stable internet connections (and poses the same "what can everyone else see about me" issues for my students).

I'm getting better - a half-dozen small group, voluntary, classes in. But it's a far cry from how comfortable I've always felt in the classroom.

[Hortensis]

37. There's usually far more to anything others do than we realize.

I'm smiling at the thought of all the video conundrums, so understandable. At least you're not a novice thrown in to teach with no art developed to build on. Have fun. They want it to work as well also.

[Ms. Toad]

38. 11 years in an inner city high school - and 6 years in law school.

(And 15 years as a lawyer between the two). Nope, not a novice.

[Hortensis]

62. :) Not hardly. Any chance, though, that your presumably

novice assistant might accidentally pull the frog down during class? Little details.

[Ms. Toad]

65. Not likely -

He was scared of it at first (it's between 2 and 3 feet tall). He seems to have gotten used to it - but it's a bit heavy for him to knock over.

[Hortensis]

69. Lol. Good. I miss our silly billies. nt

[underpants]

6. No Zooming for me.

We have conference calls daily for work. Not Zoom just voice

Twice we've had people (management) tell us precautionary tales about people not muting their phone and going to the bathroom OR on Zoom calls taking their phone in to the bathroom or changing clothes during the call.

All of those have happened since last Wednesday

[Totally Tunsie]

14. Speaking of which...

[underpants]

17. Uh

Did he wash his hands?

That was hilarious

[Igel]

66. Yeah, crap happens.

Empathy, not so much.

Until we need it. Then it still doesn't happen, but, dammit, it *should*!

[catrose]

8. So much so that I don't have a camera.

[Tanuki]

9. Reminds me of when His Fraudulency45 got busted for pretending to write

his Inaugural Address with a sharpie at what turned out to be the receptionist's desk at Merde-a-Loco.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2017/01/why-doesnt-donald-trump-have-his-own-desk-at-mar-a-lago.html

[meadowlander]

12. We've all agreed not to use video

or to give a heads up/set a meeting time if video is required.

I'm more worried about the PJs than the house. There's a blank white wall behind my sofa, so I'm covered.

[trackfan]

13. I arrange the camera with a wall of books in the background, so they'll think I'm an intellectual.

Fools them every time.

[Iggo]

64. Classic ESPN move.

[irisblue]

15. You take any Selfies... Clean The Mirror! nuff said

[LisaM]

16. Luckily my backdrop is a window!

I have lots of books and art but the computer is by the window.

[sdfernando]

18. There is easily available software to put a backgound

on your video feed. You could be on the beach or in the Grand Canyon.

[Hekate]

22. That explains how the MSNBC anchors are able to have their usual backdrops then. Cool. nt

[JHB]

47. Yeah, Zoom has a function like that too.

So far, I've used the foyer to Bag End (Bilbo & Frodo Baggins' house) and the Planet Express building from Futurama.

For Monday I think I'll use an International Space Station view of the Aurora Borealis.


Needless to say, this is just for in-department touchbases.

[sdfernando]

50. Yep..our dept daily meetings, we've been trying to keep them upbeat

Shared are WFH work areas, had a costume day...someone wants "contents of your refrig"....and I'm like NO WAY!

[woodsprite]

56. Our one boss (not the big boss) created a Zoom background

that made him look like he was sitting at his desk. He even did it as a loop so it showed him blinking and smirking every once in awhile. He didn't let it go on long because he poked his head in from the side, but it was pretty funny.

[central scrutinizer]

20. I bet there's an app for that

Either to blur out the background or provide a nature scene backdrop

[bluedye33139]

23. I refuse to work from home. Luckily, I have the office to myself

I work in a small practice and we have switched all psychotherapy to telehealth. I have never been able to work at home, never. When I was a university professor, I had a blanket policy of refusing to take student papers home to grade. I refuse to sit in my home and think about students or clients, as my home is my sanctuary and I have programmed my mind to relax when I get home.

I used to do crisis mental health work, and when you go to a home at 3:00 a.m. and deal with suicidal or homicidal mentally ill people and you see astonishing despair and violence and disruption, you need to develop techniques to keep that out of your home.

When I am at home, I do not think about my clients or students.

My heart goes out to people who are forced by circumstance to work from home. I believe that a healthy work life balance involves putting barriers up against our professional lives outside of the home and maintaining the home as a sanctuary of peace, love, and safety.

[CousinIT]

24. With Zoom you can set a nice background. I do that.

And nobody sees a damn thing in my house.

[NutmegYankee]

25. No videos in my industry. nt

[RandySF]

26. YES!

That's why I zoom by phone during our morning meetings.

[davsand]

27. I sit in a recliner in front of a big window.

I'm backlit, and that's fine by me! Occasionally, one of the two cats will be climbing around on the chair or on me, and that's when hilarity ensues. Totoro--the kitten--completely scattered a file folder the other day when he decided to climb up on the table next to me. We will not be doing that again! LOL!


Laura

[Kitchari]

53. Totoro

Love that movie

[davsand]

60. We are big fans of Miyazaki's films.

Our daughter tells her friends that her childhood was a combination of Disney and Studio Ghibli. My Neighbor Totoro was one of the first of his films I watched, and has remained a favorite over the years.




Laura

[Kitchari]

71. My hubs introduced me to

The wonderful anime mivies, but I'm not fluent in the genre. I enjoy so much the ones ive seen, such as Totoro, which ive seen several times. Love love love

[SWBTATTReg]

28. Ha ha heh...I don't think people are really worried about the optics nowadays. But, I would hide...

the dead bodies! I remember that clip that showed on national TV about the little kids coming into their Dad's office while he was on the conf. call, and it was cute. The wife comes running in, and grabs the two kids and ushers them out, and you could see the Dad still maintaining his composure, all during the invasion (kids and wife)...funny.

[Demovictory9]

30. that was hilarious... like a movie done within 1 minute. Wife's pants were undone - she has been in

potty. they filmed a follow up with the family one year later.

[magicarpet]

31. This poor business Dad.

[SWBTATTReg]

40. Thanks for popping out there on DU. I love this! It is a classic. NT

[Victor_c3]

46. I think the guy should have just picked up his kid and kept talking

That’s what I would have done. I’d say “sorry for the distraction, but it looks like I have a helper” and kept going without missing a beat with my kid in my lap.

I love the kid in the walker trailing behind! Too funny.

[magicarpet]

48. The little one in the yellow,...

Said I want to be a movie star too, just like Daddy. Am I on the camera, can you see me on the camera too..... ?

[magicarpet]

29. My place is a dump, when home I walk around in the nude.

You cant see in my windows on Goggle Drive By, right ?

[mia]

32. You can choose a virtual background on Zoom.

You can choose from your own images too, including saved works of art and scenes. Here's one from wikimedia.

[TheBlackAdder]

33. Pee Wee Hermann's Playhouse Phone Booth

.

Remember these:

Plain background












.

[hunter]

34. Collecting road kill and freeze drying for display is a legitimate hobby.

I'll ignore anyone who says it's not.

[PufPuf23]

41. How about this?

I once was acquainted with a guy who would get road kill and cure or whatever one does and re-assemble parts of the various roadkill into phantasy animals of a combination of species and then try to sell them. This was in a very rural area within a National Forest so was a road kill rich environment and maybe he just killed too avoiding the roadkill step but he said road kill when he tried to sell to me.

Have no idea whatever happened to him but probably not so good and also I did not meet nor interact with him by my volition.

[Victor_c3]

45. Yeah, taxidermy doesn't strike as a hobby you'd want to share with others you might want to date

That’s hilarious. I’m going to have to update my online dating profile and add that to it. I like to throw in bits of humor into things when I can.

[Demonaut]

39. untidy?....fu#k yes

[qwlauren35]

42. I sit in front of a coat rack.

The other day, I was caught off guard and had to do an unannounced video conference call in my pajamas before I had brushed my hair. I just focused on the technical part and decided I wasn't going to worry about how I looked.

With that said, I thought it was interesting that folks paid so much attention to Joe Biden's background, and I thought Trevor Noah's Daily Show background was fascinating.

So I guess people do look.

I could put a screen up. Hmm...

[lpbk2713]

43. I'm careful how I leave porn laying around.

I kid. I kid.

[Victor_c3]

44. As a recently single guy, I quickly learned to keep my apartment spotless at all times

You never know who is going to come home with you on a given night and I hate to embarrass myself with a messy or dirty apartment.

Now, with social distancing, nobody is coming home with me, but at least things always look good on a webcam.

[nolabear]

49. I do chuckle at seeing so many bookshelves.

But they are a good backdrop. I use mine too. The house? It’s fine.

I also like seeing how modest the digs of most celebrities are. Very few are stinking rich.

[Igel]

67. Maybe they're at their country house.

The one near town for weekends, not the nice one further away.

And certainly not the one in the north of Italy.

[neeksgeek]

51. Well, it's tricky

My wife is working from home now too. We both have to talk on the phone and/or webcam. No way we can share an office if I’m teaching class and she’s on a call. So I moved my workstation into what used to be our dining room. My options for background are the kitchen or the folding doors of our laundry closet. Ugh. Thinking of hanging a curtain!

Edited to add, on Thursday I got a laugh out of my students when I leapt up to rescue the cat’s food bowl from our dog.

[dem4decades]

52. There was a local newswoman this morning that had inside of her door in the background.

And you could see shows tossed around on the ground in the shot. After a while they adjusted the angle to keep the junk out of the picture.

[woodsprite]

54. My background is a white wall (I'm in the dining room)

I found out that you can change your background on Zoom. I have it set to a favorite beach picture I uploaded, but there are canned backgrounds to choose from as well.

[DenverJared]

55. I use various backgrounds like grand canyon or niagara falls

my webcam software allows it

[mr_lebowski]

57. Mine looks a lot like the office of the dead dad in Death At A Funeral ...

The one with Peter Dinklage ...

[smirkymonkey]

61. I don't use video, just audio.

My manager tells us its optional and I would say about 40% of the team uses video and the rest of us don't. It kind of creeps me out for some reason. I have never even done it for personal calls. I don't know why I am so opposed to it. My apartment isn't messy, but it just feels very invasive to me.

Also, part of the bonus about not having to go into the office is not having to get dressed or groomed and put on makeup, etc. I would rather not be seen au natural.

[Iggo]

63. No webcam.

I did take a series of North West South East pics to post in the 7-member text group thread we have for my department.

But I had to keep retaking the photos because I saw something new and embarrassing.

After about three tries I gave up.

No pics from Iggo's Bunker.

[marlakay]

68. Don't work but I use zoom for bookclub

And other stuff, do it on my desktop for bookclub and tall book cases behind me. My dance class I do in living room and I just clear out room and fix pillows on couch.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

70. I like my backdrop of some whisky on a shelf, ...

... and a print of Dogs Playing Poker on the wall. It's classy.