Zoom
I saw an article in the Los Angeles Times the other day pertaining to a whole new lexicon of words, terms, phrases and etiquette that have emerged in this era of Zoom meetings during this pandemic.
For example, in the word category we have socially distanced, self-isolation, essential worker, stimulus check, herd immunity, facemask, super-spreader, PPE (an abbreviation for personal protective equipment) and COVID-19, an abbreviation for Coronavirus, which is not a new word. But it didn’t take long before this never-before-seen word was squashed together with other words to create hybrids like pre-covid, post-covid and covidiot.
As for phrases, we have Why aren’t you wearing your mask?, flatten the curve, I’m sorry I interrupted you, I can’t hear you, you’re muted and I can’t see you, why isn’t your camera turned on? Another phrase, uttered by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcette when asked to sum up 2020 is, “It was a frickin’ disaster.”
Then we come to Zoom meeting etiquette, such as know your options, meeting vs. webinar, don’t make private meetings public and manage screen sharing.
My wife attends Zoom meetings frequently to gather information and ideas for articles she writes. Me personally, I’ve never “Zoomed,” except at breakfast time on a cold wintery day, when I partake in one of my favorite wintertime breakfast cereals… you guessed it, Zoom. What, you never heard of it? It’s akin to oatmeal, except that it’s made from wheat. Back in the day, it was called Ralston, I guess that’s because it was made by Ralston-Purina. Nowadays, it’s marketed by Krusteaz, not be confused with Krusty the Clown, who I understand loves Zoom, when he’s not in jail. I like it because it sticks to your sides and warms you up and helps keep my mind fresh and clear after a night of confusing dreams.
“I may be just a foolish dreamer, but I don’t care ‘cause I know my happiness is waiting out there somewhere, Woah, woah, zoom, I’d like to fly far away, yeah, where my mind can be fresh and clear, and I’d find the love that I long to see, where everybody can be what they wanna be.” (“Zoom” – The Commodores – 1977)
Also, back in the day, one of my favorite kid’s shows was Captain Jet, which was seen on KNXT – Channel 2. In addition to showing cartoons, Captain Jet ended each program by zooming off for the outer cosmos, but not before giving his signature salute…Zoooooom, which he occasionally did backwards…..Mooooooz. What, you don’t believe me? Well, you had to be there.
“Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, I wish the word they call freedom someday would come, someday would come. Hey baby, woo, ah, zoom, zoom baby, I’d like to fly away, zoom, zoom. Well, I like to fly away, zoom.”
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to zoom back over to Goodwin’s and purchase some more Zoom before I run out.
Keep it flyin’ Uncle Mott