Zoomed Out

I am officially Zoomed out.

I never thought I would find myself saying that, considering how much Zoom (or Teams or Google Meets) has been a part of our lives for the last 18 months. Sure, the first few times were kind of awkward, but meeting virtually wasn’t too difficult to adapt to. And now logging in, sharing drawings, and discussing design options over a web cam is almost second nature.

However, when given the option today between meeting in person or meeting via web, something in me realized I just couldn’t do another Zoom. Even if that meants me, the client, and anyone else in attendance wearing a mask. I wasn’t sure I had another one in me. At least not for a bit.

The two virtual conferences in the last two weeks coupled with my monthly AIA call may be partially to blame. There’s only so much a girl can take! Especially after the first live streaming session this morning that involved someone streaming from their phone a video that was streaming to their computer.

Huh?

When the pandemic first started, and we all went virtual so we could see our friends, Zoom meetings were a bit of fun. James and I were still able to have our regular Friday night dinner with our friends, even if that meant from our respective dining room tables. We were able to celebrate Mother’s Day with my family, including my nephew and his family in North Carolina.

Then friends in Ohio started hosting Friday night cocktail hours, which meant seeing a lot of our Southern Decadence friends we knew we were going to miss that year. The only difference being that we were seeing them in their living rooms instead of in a bar. And Elizabeth Ann, who was ensconced in his parents’ basement, opted to put up NSFW backgrounds of various men, prompting the comment: “Is that your dad? He’s hot!”

Now if my client meetings or conferences were like that, I might reconsider hopping onto Zoom at any time. However, with few exceptions, most meetings and conference sessions are pretty tame. I did have a colleague on my monthly call make the comment that starting happy hour Zooms at 3:30 on the East Coast doesn’t work so well if you’re in California. Not sure how I missed that session, but let’s face it. We’ve all had days where a glass of wine before noon didn’t sound like a bad idea.

I suspect this feeling will pass (the non-Zooming, not the wine before noon), and I’ll go back to hopping onto the occasional virtual call. I have heard from other architects that they’ve just had too many virtual meetings, so I know I’m not alone in feeling Zoomed out.

But for the moment, I think I’m done. Unless someone decides we need a happy hour. Then I might have to log in just to see if Elizabeth Ann’s dad is still hot.