This sums up the past 12 or so months for me

That one could back-fire however as you may end up being mistaken for just being drunk... especially if you say you have just seen a herd of 'pink elephants'...

I used to have a neighbour that held some Comicon style parties. Used to see all sorts of  strange characters in the street when returning from the 'local watering hole'.

(Either that or the beer was a lot stronger than usual...)

"Errr....I've just seen an Imperial Stormtrooper walk past my house !"

Whilst not on a call I have actually seen that as well, plus a giant dinosaur on another occasion: first seemed to be on the way to the bus stop and coincided with a national Comicon event, the other looked like they were in training for a marathon.

dougw  wrote:

 

... I am looking for new excuses for inattention. Anybody have any good ones?

Sorry, my phone cord got all coiled up again

I was browsing through the news app this morning. I think I read something like "stray cat brings in another stray cat", or something.

"Sorry, a stray cat who comes around sometimes just came around with another stray cat"

That's handy - I have to drive to the supermarket for mine

The old situation No. 1 was being in a physical meeting and realising you didn't need to be there but perhaps peer pressure was compelling you stay or you are just very polite. There was no escape for most of us.

The old situation No.2 was a phone conversation. Anyone realising they probably didn't need to attend would contemplate pretending the phone line was playing up, and unless you are a trained actor it basically sounded just like that....you were pretending. Strangely few people just hang up and give the excuse they got cut off and couldn't reconnect.

But the new situation No.3 is completely different. You are looking at the video call screen anyway, realise you don't need to be there, say nothing and just turn the WiFi off. Blaming the home WiFi for dropping out should anyone ask is far more credible.

Whilst I seem to have deviously thought this through I must be lucky; usually the meetings are interesting enough for me to remain an active participant and I have never had to resort to the above

There is the bonus in that you can re-use that one and even 'dial it up' a little bit if needs be: "...the cat's just brought in the neighbour..."

"‘I’ll be right back: the cat’s just brought in one of next door’s chickens”

True sir....

'Network error' is the most common excuse.

Sometimes I have made excuse that I went to the washroom, but I don't think it will be a good idea for you. Yeah... I know its a little embarrassing but that is the reason that it always works. You can turn off the mike and the video both.

Maybe you can say that somebody fainted in your office so you had to leave.

You can also say that you heard a loud noise outside so you had to leave to check it out.

Maybe excuse of any rat or any other animal entering your office help you out. You can tell them that there is a rat in your office, so you got distracted.

All the best!

ctrl-shift-m

The most obtuse of key combinations for unmute/mute.