Friday, June 2, 2023

The two kinds of pet people on Zoom meetings

I know, I usually write posts that are more directly related to clinical or social justice advocacy topics, but I'm feeling compelled to share this semi-adjacent observation.

So, I've determined there are exactly two types of people when their pet makes an appearance on a work-from-home meeting and someone greets the pet or compliments them.

1) Ignores the remark, seems vaguely annoyed it has been made. May explicitly tell the animal enthusiast they are wrong to have noted the animal*. May express annoyance at the pet for existing. 

2) "Oh, thank you! This is Boots, and he'll be 3 years old next Monday, and his favorite food is cheese, and I just bought him a sweater which I can show you next time."

*I once accompanied a court-involved family on an initial intake meeting with a mental health provider, in which their struggling teen was polite but pretty reserved, the provider's dog appeared, and the teen appropriately complimented the dog and guessed the breed. The provider, apparently deciding not to take the opportunity to build rapport in a moment when a high-needs adolescent was easy to engage, told the kid we were discussing school performance, not the dog. OK then.

No comments:

Post a Comment