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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

FiL crawling round on work video call

306 replies

RuralStyleless · 04/12/2025 21:30

drunk leonardo dicaprio GIF

Am I being over-sensitive here?
I was on a video call this morning when my 73yo FIL came to get some things from the room. I realised, muted, said I was on a call and assumed he would wait until I said I was free. A minute later, I realise he has come inside and is crawling around trying not to be seen (he absolutely would have been seen). It was an external call, so not even colleagues I could laugh it off with). I'm absolutely livid.

For context, my study / home office is used as our guest room. This is not normally an issue. I had also warned him I was starting work and had to be on video calls 30 minutes earlier.

YABU - he is old, doesn't get tech, and no one said anything
YANBU - what sort of idiot does that?

OP posts:
Dulcie6 · 08/12/2025 15:13

I do think this is pretty funny & even though it was an external call, the people on that call will have a sense of humour and probably howled about it.

I probably would’ve just switched my camera off temporarily.

BadgernTheGarden · 08/12/2025 15:18

If he needed to change his trousers to go out or to work in the garden, it's a bit difficult. He has to figure out everything he might want out of the room first thing in the morning? Not really very reasonable. How was he visible surely the camera is pointing at your face and if he crawled behind you he would be below the line of the camera sounds like he was trying not to interrupt.

KilkennyCats · 08/12/2025 15:23

BadgernTheGarden · 08/12/2025 15:18

If he needed to change his trousers to go out or to work in the garden, it's a bit difficult. He has to figure out everything he might want out of the room first thing in the morning? Not really very reasonable. How was he visible surely the camera is pointing at your face and if he crawled behind you he would be below the line of the camera sounds like he was trying not to interrupt.

Yes, I don’t get it either, unless he somehow levitated past the screen.

computergrandma · 08/12/2025 22:54

I'm 77 and wouldn't dream of interrupting my son or DIL if they were on a work call (or even a personal one)! Unless it was life or death, your FIL should have waited. I think it's worth showing him the video and saying (nicely) that you were on an important call to external clients and that they would have seen him crawling across the floor. This gives a very unprofessional image and could reflect badly on you. Ask him to please be considerate enough to allow you to take work calls with no interruptions in future.

LT1982 · 09/12/2025 06:16

This is what video call blur/backgrounds are for

Checknotmymate · 09/12/2025 06:29

My dm same age would have pitched in with the call. No concept of what work is and that video calls need to be professional, or what professionalism is.

I tend to move my desk into my bedroom when we have guests.

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