VANCOUVER -- With many people learning the ins and outs of video conferencing on the fly while working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s not going as smoothly as everyone would like.
One glaring example took place during a Port Moody council meeting being conducted remotely on the Zoom video platform.
As Mayor Rob Vagramov spoke on camera, Councillor Meghan Lahti suddenly yelled a pair of obscenities.
The mayor then urged her to mute her microphone.
“Sorry! Sorry, we’re at a family dinner,” Lahti replied.
The mayor said Lahti later assured all of her council colleagues that the foul language was not directed at any of them.
“The outburst was directed at her family members during a rambunctious dinner party,” he said. “I think everyone acknowledges that it was not a good look.”
In an email exchange with CTV News, Lahti said the council meeting happened while her family was celebrating her husband’s birthday.
"It’s an example of what happens when you quarantine for too long with adult children," Lahti joked.
She’s not the only person to drop an F-bomb during a live broadcast lately.
During an RCMP news conference in the Maritimes this week, after confirming she could be heard, a Reuters reporter who had dialled in suddenly became flustered and let the obscenity slip.
After a brief awkward pause, the RCMP members running the news conference quickly moved on to the next reporter in the queue.
With so many people working remotely, colleagues and clients alike are getting an intimate look inside peoples’ homes and personal lives — and it isn’t always pretty.
At a virtual public meeting conducted via video conference, a Vancouver councillor flushed their toilet for all to hear.
That’s not as embarrassing as what happened to a woman in the United States who seems to have forgotten to turn her camera off before walking down the hall, into the bathroom, and taking a seat.
Her surprised colleagues could not contain their laughter and somebody posted the video to YouTube.
In many of these situations, some of the reactions can be nearly as memorable as the original faux pas.
“Super inappropriate there. I just got like a hot flash from that,” said a stunned Mayor Vagramov after Councillor Lahti’s unexpected outburst.
