I’m not saying Zoom Escaper is right, but I understand

Getting out of boring Zoom calls the best way ever

Photo credit: Visuals/Unsplash

Writer’s note: This post was first published on Medium’s “Tickled” on March 19, 2021 and will now be permanently housed on Substack’s new “Tickled” column.

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I’d fed her. I’d played with her. I’d walked her. And she was minding her business playing with a toy. Then the millisecond I logged into a call with my attorney (and a former writing client), here comes that Louisiana Catahoula Leopard dog running full speed onto my lap and flopping right down in front of me. All you could see was my breasts and a dog’s face. I shook my head. I’d done everything I could think of to keep her busy for this call, but she had other plans.

I laugh about this now because it would’ve been the perfect way to get off of a virtual conference call, but this was the summer of 2019 before anyone had even heard of coronavirus. So when I heard about Zoom Escaper, the website that purposely plays a dog barking as a distraction, I started laughing. One of my top five favorite dogs was ahead of her time.

If you haven’t heard about Zoom Escaper yet, it’s a website that offers all the usual distractions to get off a Zoom call — construction noise, barking dogs, echoing, a bad connection, a crying baby and hard wind. The only two that I think are a wee bit over-the-top are the crying man (what in the world are you doing at your house?).