My Camera Was On for the Entire Meeting

It was the biggest call of my quarter: ninety people, three departments, the kind of meeting where you keep yourself muted and pretend to take notes. I was sure my camera was off. There was no green light that I noticed, and I had clicked the button. I had definitely clicked a button.

Confident in my invisibility, I did what anyone does on a long, boring call. I ate a sandwich in about four bites. I had a quiet but expressive conversation with my cat. I got up, off camera I assumed, and did a couple of stretches that are not designed to be seen. I picked things out of my teeth. I made several faces at the presenter that I would not want the presenter to see.

The presenter, it turns out, could see all of them. So could the other eighty-nine people, because the call was in grid view, and my little rectangle was right there in the middle, camera very much on, broadcasting my entire private variety show to the whole organization.