Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for January 23, 2021

Riding elevators with strangers has prepared me for those awkward moments.

Solution: Throw a blanket over the camera, then unplug the monitor.

On a tablet, it is easy to just close the screen.

Unless someone thinks they are signed out of the meeting and allow a bodily eruption to leave an indelible (though unsmellable) impression on coworkers…

Ever have a Zoom meeting with the camera OFF? I haven’t had any Zoom meeting, so I’m just wondering how “receptive” the other participants would be?

I thought it was the ‘desparately try to maintain that nonchalant smile while blindly groping for the off-switch’ -gap. Probably too long a word.

Teleconferences were not a bad idea, were they?!

Hard to get past the idea of Rat being a Professor ! … Croc Power !

Appropos of nothing, I’ve taken to saying, “Clear ether.” before hitting the leave button. Too much Lensman, I suppose. :)

IDK! ZOOM just cuts us off abruptly…..

Limited experience with Zoom, but just closing the window after hitting “leave meeting” isn’t awkward for me. And I unplug the external camera.

I always thought it was the moment between saying “bye” and trying to actually FIND the end meeting button oO

Sorry , but I’m way out there on this script , totally , out there . Sorry .

Not to be confused with aquagap, which is the space between swimmers sharing a lane. Don’t push off the wall the split second I reach it, leave a friggin aquagap!

In spite of his tiny brain, Rat is very cunning and clever.

Nice reference to “The Chive” segment.

What kind of morons do these people work with? At my job people leave meetings faster than second graders at the school bell.

“Mind the gap” is what we say about revolvers.

Well, of course people mind the gap. It’s not like anyone actually likes it.

I bought some buttons at a London gift shop one year that looked like the Underground logo, but instead of Mind the Gap, they said “F*** the Gap” (F word spelled out).

After you, Alphonse.

It’s so nice to be alive at a new stage of really intelligent comic strips, both the strips and the comments. A Renaissance of smart laughs. Much needed.

A new “sniglet”. Rich Hall would be proud!

Yes, way too many mind the huge gap between other’s synapses. For example, we are well acquainted in detecting friend toxicity and get to know them well before applying the best test. For example, the My Way or The Highway test, by email notification that we bought our tickets to our Balloon Festival trip. K-boom, crash and burn. To them RIP ironically. Perhaps a harsh follow-up to their years before, “Sorry, we have to cancel our trip plans. Friends are coming to town.”

I wonder what Rich Hall is doing these days.

Stuff like this with Zoom, among other pandemic-related things, you can’t make up. Words to describe them can be made up.

That right there is a sniglet…https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sniglet

That’s the time to stand up and do a Toobin.

Rat’s been to London?

That is so dead on. That happens on the phone too.

Will Professor Rat be handling the sarchasm?

When I end a video call in MSTeams, it’s over immediately.

I have thus far managed to get along avoiding Zoom, and so, Professor, I figure I don’t need to Mind that particular Gap!

Yeah – it is a weird thing with Zoom – it asks you if you are sure you want to leave the meeting without suspending your voice or video, leading to a potentially really big Awkwagap! I have almost come to prefer Teams which basically takes every opportunity to close out the app when you try and get from one place to another and when you leave a call.

I’m confused. I use Zoom all the time, both as host and non. When host I just hit end meeting for all, and it ends, and when a guest, I just hit leave meeting, and I’m gone. Have never had an “awkward “ experience. ??

Don’t question the rat

Just put your thumb over the camera