Banter Bites

A Purr…fect Zoom Call

Tell it to the judge … I'm not a cat!

BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: Red was used to Black sending her various business articles, but never expected one from MarketWatch with a clip of a Texas attorney who had a cat filter on during a virtual court hearing on Zoom.

The subject line of the email was the article title, Do not miss this: Texas 'cat lawyer' commits hilarious Zoom fail by keeping kitten filter on, but what really caught Red's attention was Black's opening line, "This is wonderful …" Normally, when Black sends a link to an article, especially if it's from a business publication, there's a fact-based opening line so Red saves them as a "brain break" for later in the day (or sometimes even later in the week). But this time, she was just too curious, especially as Black had also copied Red's daughters on the email.

The first time Red watched the video she smiled, and admits that she's kept it on her computer home screen so she could go back and watch it from time to time. But that was almost two weeks ago! So why would Red even remember it at this point? Let alone mention it to Black?

Because we have an assortment of Zoom meetings this week, and Red couldn't forget how much enjoyment she got from that Zoom mishap. It had taken her a while to get used to having virtual business meetings (Black had used Zoom even before the pandemic and now is trying to convince Red to do virtual speaking engagements) as she finds them somewhat impersonal. But now, we both realize that,

Zoom calls can result in some very unexpected, and memorable, situations. Made even better if they're captured on video!

If you’re looking for a reason not to mow, there’s logic behind letting it grow …

BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: As is often the case, Red hadn’t heard of the latest trend, “No Mow May,” which is all about lawn maintenance (or the lack of it) until Black started sending her articles about it.

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It’s hard to imagine one holiday celebrates … spring, women’s fertility, workers, and labor rights. But it shouldn’t surprise you that even though it dates back thousands of years, we each “dance around” different aspects of May Day.

If you’ve never thought about May Day, don’t worry, most of us haven’t.

BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: Red appreciates that some holidays have historical significance, some have ancient traditions, and some are opportunities for one of Black’s unexpected, but often amusing and clever, comments, but May Day checks all those boxes.

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Spring’s supposed to be full of optimism as it represents a new beginning, with longer days, the trees and flowers blooming, the birds chirping, and a general feeling of rejuvenation. So, whose idea was it to rudely interrupt it with Tax Day? And the fact it’s April 18 this year instead of April 15 (when we ran the article below in 2021, we got two extra days) hardly makes it any less, well, … taxing.

This quote is perfect, except that we don't know who said it, "People who complain about taxes can be divided into two classes: men and women."

BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: It's probably a safe bet (yes, the IRS even has specific rules on how to handle gambling income and losses) that no one looks forward to Tax Day, but it would be easy to make assumptions that how people approach this potentially stressful day would be impacted by how much, or how little, money they make …

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