POETRY

All Zoomed Out

I’m already over the video conferencing

How is it suddenly 3pm, and I’ve spent all day on video chats? I think that, just because we are sitting at home, doesn’t mean we need to pack every single minute with zoom.

Over the zoom all zoomed out zoned out of the (at least) three video calls I have daily. Mother’s Day: three. Today: three. Between work calls, patient calls, family calls, friend calls, I am literally on a video call all day. How the f did that happen?

I’ve tested at least five of the available platforms: Teams, Whatsapp, FaceTime, Messenger, Hangouts whatever you wanna call it, it’s Zoom synonymous with video chat like google now is a verb.

My wife and I are getting our Zoom meeting times mixed up. At least when you had to make meeting appointments you could be like, sorry I gotta run. I gotta pick up the kids/dog/dry cleaning I gotta go to the gym/dentist/beach but now you gotta sit there and check- recheck if the mute is on and the video is off because you are still in your pajamas without a bra.

Or worse, the ones that require full participation and at least a nice top and the biggest decision you have to make that day is which Zoom background to use. I used to have time during this quarantine to do things other than talk but now it’s all that I do.

What will happen if our entire world goes online?

Sorry, can’t stay and chat, gotta Zoom.

Carmen Fong is a writer, artist, and colorectal surgeon who lives in New York City with her partner and two cats. She was a Stony Brook Children’s Literature Fellow and writes young adult novels. She also blogs about healthcare and surgery. Her poetry has been published in The Apothecary and on Medium.

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