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Since COVID-19 became a part of our vocabulary, so did words such as Zoom, teleconference and social distancing.

While much of it sounds like jabberwocky it does lead to the atiptoe of what is next… a new word? A new regulation? A new something shiny?

Alright, so atiptoe might not be exactly what we are experiencing at the dawn of each new day.

But we are waiting for the next shoe to drop. It may not behoove us, but we do it anyway.

While a popinjay may be able to navigate through this, it is not so entertaining for the rest of us.

However, to see an invite to a webinar titled, “Can You At Least Wear A Shirt” has shown that maybe, just maybe, we have digressed a bit too much during the coronavirus crisis. Granted the webinar is focusing on proper etiquette, and a learning moment for those of us learning how to stay professional while working outside our normal formalities.

For those questioning if they should wear a shirt during a webinar, the answer is always yes.

However, I am not surprised a webinar focusing on legal snafus has to start with proper dress codes for the conference. Many struggle with the dress code for an in person appearance in the court room, why would COVID-19 change that?

I have heard numerous recommendations while we ‘quarantined’ for the virus. Many were common knowledge such as take a shower, put on pants or brush your hair. There is a webinar for that.

But now we have been freed from our homes and able to move about again and finding our new routine has had its challenges. One such challenge is mask or no mask.

There is a webinar for that.

At one point, it was ‘there is an app for that’, now we have webinars for everything from working out to if we should wear a shirt.

Yes, I am stuck on the webinar about how one should dress because I cannot understand how one would want to be videoed without a shirt. Do you really want your boss, the person who signs your checks, to see you without a shirt? Or the person who could decide if you are paying a fine or going to jail? Or the person who is teaching your child how to read via a computer screen instead of in a classroom?

While the ‘bar’ may have changed due to the coronavirus, we should not lower our standards.

And that is not jabberwocky.

Dawn Burleigh is general manager and editor of The Orange Leader. She can be reached at dawn.burleigh@orangeleader.com