“I can see that…”
Professional Zoom calls are a dangerous game. For many, the possibility of their children interrupting and asking for a biscuit, as we saw on Sky News last year, or accidentally leaving a dildo on your bookshelf, threaten to disrupt what should be a professional meeting.
Chaos can also arise if you share a computer, and a Zoom account, with your children. Especially if they like cats.
That is what happened to an unfortunate lawyer, who joined a hearing held on Zoom while using a filter that made him look like a cat.
The meeting was being held by the 394th Judicial District Court in the United States, and despite the host’s screen explaining in text that recording the hearing was prohibited, a recording did make its way onto social media and has now been viewed more than five million times on Twitter in less than three hours. Because the Judge tweeted it.
The clip shows Judge Roy Ferguson telling Rod Ponton that he has “a filter on in his video settings.”
“You might want to…” he continued before Ponton interrupted with a panicked noise that can only be described as chilling.
“Can you hear me, judge?” Ponton asked, still appearing as a petrified cat.
“I think it’s a filter,” the judge explained.
“It is, and I don’t know how to remove it. I’ve got my assistant here and she’s trying to, but…” Ponton replied.
Seemingly giving up on trying to get rid of the cat filter, Ponton then suggests moving forward with the meeting anyway, even though he appears on screen as a cat.
“I’m here live, I’m not a cat,” he clarifies.
“I can see that,” the judge responds.
“I’m here live, I’m not a cat,” says lawyer after Zoom filter mishap
“I can see that,” responds judge pic.twitter.com/HclKlAUwbM
— Lawrence Hurley (@lawrencehurley) February 9, 2021
Judge Ferguson tweeted the clip out, with the caption: “IMPORTANT ZOOM TIP. If a child used your computer, before you join a virtual hearing check the Zoom Video Options to be sure filters are off. This kitten just made a formal announcement on a case in the 394th (sound on).”
Incredible.
