The COVID-19 pandemic has ushered in a "new normal" of working from home, remote learning and discovering a new appreciation for streaming entertainment. But it's also added to our lexicon with terms like "covidiot"—defined by Urban Dictionary as "someone who ignores the warnings regarding public health or safety." I personally favor a more expansive definition, one that would include all the odd or ridiculous behavior that some people have engaged in during these strange times.

To be fair, I'm not talking about those of us who adopted somewhat more relaxed approaches in these work-from-home times, like wearing shorts or pajama bottoms that your colleagues can't see during those Zoom meetings or adopting a cute Zoom background. But "work from home" isn't a license to throw all social conventions to the wind, like wearing pants when you go outside to the mailbox. Police in Taneytown, Maryland, had to publicly warn one offender (who was apparently rocking the full "Winnie the Pooh" bottomless look) by posting on the Taneytown Police Facebook page, "Please remember to put pants on before leaving the house to check your mailbox. You know who you are. This is your final warning." And it's not just ordinary citizens getting a little casual; in North Oaks, Minnesota, city council member Martin Long recently attended a videoconference council meeting while soaking shirtless in his hot tub. That's pretty mild compared to the behavior of Vallejo, California, planning commissioner Chris Platzer who "livened up" a recent Zoom meeting of the planning commission for the northern California city by allegedly drinking a beer and throwing his cat (he was also allegedly heard by city staff making derogatory, profane remarks after the meeting but while still connected). Not surprisingly, the planning commission has now called for Platzer's resignation.

I'd like to say that lawyers have been perfect models of decorum during this crisis, but I'd be wrong. Broward County (Florida) Circuit Court Judge Dennis Bailey recently posted a letter to the Weston Bar Association website berating lawyers who have gotten just a little too casual when Zooming into court hearings. According to Judge Bailey, "one male lawyer appeared shirtless and one female attorney appeared still in bed, still under the covers" and another needed reminding that "putting on a beach cover-up won't cover up [that] you're poolside in a bathing suit." Judge Bailey urged lawyers, "please, if you don't mind, let's treat court hearings as court hearings, whether Zooming or not." Perhaps judges themselves could benefit from that advice. Fifty-seven year-old Brazilian appellate judge Carmo Antonio de Souza recently participated in a videoconference hearing with colleagues on the Amapá State Court of Justice, but looked a bit different from his fellow judges—he was bare chested, sipping a drink. Perhaps belatedly realizing that the hearing was live as he saw his formally dressed colleagues in Zoom chat windows, Judge Souza walked off camera and returned soon after in a shirt and tie. A tribunal addressing the incident declined to discipline the judge, calling the exposure accidental and pointing out that since the "practice of carrying out judicial sessions by videoconferencing is a recent development," incidents like this are "perfectly understandable."

Indeed, working from home presents unique challenges, especially for those with children. More than one Zoom hearing and videoconference has been crashed by errant toddlers or children needing help with their at-home lessons. Of course, few lawyers have had their law firm Instagram page hijacked by a child's dance routine. London-based law firm Simmons & Simmons recently apologized for an incident in which one lawyer's daughter borrowed her father's smartphone to livestream her impromptu moves to grime artist Wiley's 2012 song "Heatwave." Unfortunately, the phone was set to the firm's corporate Instagram account, and so the firm's followers were treated not only to the unwitting dance performance, but also (before cutting off) her father's realization that his daughter was live on the firm's page. Simmons & Simmons later posted an apology, saying, "Sorry about the dancing child live post this week. Obviously not meant for our corporate account. The reality of working from home with kids around is posing a whole new world of challenges!" Maybe that '80s gem, "The Safety Dance," would have been a better choice.

Since we're all in this together, let's try to be more mindful of others. There's no need to add to the tally of "covidiots" among us. So, remember to put on a shirt before those Zoom meetings—and pants, too, if you're going to go outside. You'll thank me later.

John G. Browning is a Dallas-based attorney who handles a wide variety of civil litigation in state and federal courts.