Computer Face close

We all have one. Some are worse than others. If you’re lucky, yours is one of considered concentration, for the unlucky, it’s more of a cross between constipation and surprise.

The computer face is one of the small pleasures in life available to everyone. You’re at the desk, staring at your screen, trying to make sense of a complicated spreadsheet, you let out a big sigh as your eyes wander from your screen and fix upon....the guy opposite and his weird looking computer face. His eyes squinting together, mouth scrunched together and nose wrinkled. The corners of your mouth start turning up, you cover your face with your hand and look away. You can’t help it, you look back, his brow furrows as his eyes squint even more, then his eyebrows rise up, culminating in a look of sheer bewilderment! Your mouth breaks into a full smile, you have to lower your head and distract yourself by fiddling with your pen pot.

The question is – what’s your computer face? I would suggest that you ask a colleague to determine this for you. They must of course catch you unawares. They could either snap a picture of it or perhaps give you a description or even an impression – although be warned this might result in foul-play.

For the unlucky people among us who have a bad computer face, do not fear, I have some tips to remedy the situation. Firstly, cover part of your face with your hand, as much as possible without restricting your view. Next, as soon as you feel the face emerging, smile with your lips together. Finally, identify someone in your office with a worse computer face than yours and quickly point at them should you come under the spotlight.

Whatever your computer face is, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. In a world determined to categorise us all by tick box forms it may be the last chance of individualism we have left. I say, embrace it, “embrace the computer face!”