When working from home, you get use to certain background sounds from your coworkers. For example, I know Pixel will ring jingle bells when she wants to go out, followed by a bark if her Dad doesn’t respond fast enough. Then there are the cooing noises and gurgles of one coworker’s newborn infant, and the much louder sounds of another’s son home for the summer from college. And who can forget the time Angel Chuck Billy abruptly ended a zoom meeting by using the dog vomit alarm! That was one sound everyone on that call instantly recognized! Recently though I accidentally added a new sound to the work from home soundtrack.

I had just taken Mom outside for a quick round of fetch to stretch our legs, before returning to my spot under Dad’s desk. It being a warm day, and tired from the exercise, I began to pant, rather loudly. Next thing I hear Dad say on the phone to his new coworker, “Outside? Sawing wood? No. Why would you ask that?” I couldn’t hear the coworker’s response, but I did see Dad’s face turn an embarassing shade of red as he said, “Oh that’s my dog you hear panting!” Awkward!