Rod Ponton is not a cat, but he gave us plenty of lockdown joy | Rebecca Nicholson

The Texas lawyer trapped in a Zoom filter perfectly encapsulated the surreal working life so many of us endure

It used to be that Zoom made ordinary people briefly notorious for two reasons: either they were inappropriately dressed for the digital workplace (such as the lawyer who attended a virtual hearing shirtless, and was reprimanded by the judge), or they had failed to locate the mute/video off button at a very unfortunate moment (like the director who was caught talking disparagingly about an actor's apartment).

As another, hopefully final lockdown trundles on, this Return of the King of third acts - essential, but dreary and interminable - has caused Zoom to evolve. We are now entering its surreal late period.

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