My name is Karen, I’m 36, and I work remotely from Raleigh, North Carolina. Like a lot of people since the pandemic, my job shifted to mostly online meetings, Slack messages, and the occasional “quick sync” that somehow lasts an hour.
Normally remote work is pretty manageable.
Except for one thing.
My boss loves scheduling 8:00 a.m. stand-up meetings.
Now, if you’re a parent, you already know the problem here.
8:00 a.m. is exactly when the school drop-off chaos is happening.
Every weekday morning in my house looks like a small logistical operation.
Packing lunches.
Finding backpacks.
Arguing about shoes.
Somehow getting two kids into the car on time.
Meanwhile my boss keeps scheduling these meetings where everyone is expected to give quick project updates on Microsoft Teams.
For the past few weeks I’ve been joining the calls from my phone while sitting in the school pickup line, camera off and microphone muted.
So far it’s mostly worked.
But today things got… slightly more chaotic.
The drop-off line was longer than usual, and the kids were already asking for breakfast because we had rushed out the door.
So I made the strategic decision to swing through the McDonald’s drive-thru before dropping them off.
Unfortunately the Teams meeting started at exactly the same time.
So there I was, sitting in a car full of hungry children, slowly rolling forward in the drive-thru line while listening to coworkers give their updates through my phone.
When it was my turn to speak, I unmuted my microphone.
At that exact moment, the drive-thru speaker crackled and asked:
“Welcome to McDonald’s, what can I get for you today?”
At the same time my youngest child started yelling from the back seat about wanting hash browns.
My boss paused for a second and asked, “Karen… are you in a busy office environment?”
I briefly considered lying.
Instead I said, “I’m currently conducting a mobile morning operations meeting.”
One of my coworkers started laughing.
Another said they could hear someone ordering orange juice in the background.
Eventually I managed to give my project update while simultaneously placing a breakfast order and telling the kids to stop arguing about which toy comes with the kids’ meal.
The meeting ended a few minutes later.
My boss didn’t mention it again, but I have a feeling the situation made it very clear what 8 a.m. actually looks like for parents.
Honestly, if the stand-up meetings continue, I might just start joining them regularly from the drive-thru.
At least there the coffee is reliable.
