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Not to start a tangent, but the problem here has less to do with WFH vs. RTO (I’ve been 100% WFH for 10 years, FWIW), and more to do with meetings.

People that have calendars packed with meetings will have a hard time with bio breaks regardless of where they work.

I’m fortunate enough to work for a company that has a culture of minimal meetings for ICs (I probably average 4-6 hours per week), so bio breaks aren’t an issue.

But I should still be better about hydrating. I do better than some, but could still do better (probably 80 oz. per day).

2 comments

Calling it a "bio break" makes it sound like you are trying to excuse some unfortunate deficiency.

Since time immemorial we have been coming up with euphemisms for “I need to shit”.

I actually find this one minimally objectionable. I am a meat robot and I must attend to biological necessities. This is a convenient abstraction for my working relationships.

Yeah, different mindset I guess.

Taking a shit is a pleasure, the meeting is the inconvenience.

Nah, it's a gaming term that goes back to at least 2006 (first I'd seen it). When you're grinding 10 hours on some new raid in WoW it was common to say "brb bio" or "Everyone take a 5 min bio break" etc.

We said it in FFXI a few years before that. I thought maybe it was a pun since the game has a spell called Bio and people would highlight the word using the auto-translate function, but I just checked and this says the term dates back to the mid-90s:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/bio-break-meaning-a...

Kind of? It is an unfortunate biological reality that we need to eat, sleep, pee, etc. I mean, we literally say "Excuse me" all the time as a matter of social etiquette; this is no different.

With wfh I could be in meeting and just mute and shut video off while I relieve myself. If someone asks me to chime in during the act I could pinch off and be on the mic in 30 seconds.

I agree with what you've said before, but I still usually wait for the meeting to be over when working from home. The fear of accidentally unmuting, or not having muted correctly to begin with, is too high. It's an expected value thing: The failure case is unlikely, but when it hits, it hits awkwardly. (While also not being the end of the world, which factors into me saying "usually".)

It is however unequivocally true that I much, much prefer going to the bathroom at home.

Even if the camera was on not like its directed at the action anyhow. Laptop might be set down in the hallway outside the door or on the sink.

I’m using my phone, which would then be face down anyway, but I’m more worried about the mic being on inadvertently. It’s easier to accidentally unmute and not notice that.

The real most dangerous game.