Classification of Laptop Stand Improvisation
Four hardcover books and a used shoebox have been assessed. The shoebox is load-bearing.
Hearing Transcript: Laptop Stand Improvisation Inquiry Proceedings, February 2021. Abridged.
PRESIDING OFFICER: State the matter before us.
PETITIONER: In March 2020, the petitioner raised a laptop on a stack of books in order to improve the camera angle for video calls. The stack consisted of three economics textbooks and a hardcover novel from 2016. This arrangement has been in place continuously for eleven months.
PRESIDING OFFICER: And the issue?
PETITIONER: The shoebox. In October, the stack was found to be slightly uneven. A shoebox was added beneath the rightmost textbook to address the imbalance. The shoebox contains winter accessories that have not been needed because the petitioner has not left the house.
PRESIDING OFFICER: The shoebox is still there?
PETITIONER: The shoebox is structural. It cannot be removed without reassessing the entire stack. The winter accessories inside it have not been retrieved in four months.
PRESIDING OFFICER: And the petitioner's position?
PETITIONER: The petitioner wishes to establish on the record that the laptop stand improvisation was intended as a temporary measure. Eleven months of continuous daily use is not the intention the petitioner had in March. The intention has since been replaced by a fact.
PRESIDING OFFICER: Has any permanent stand been purchased?
PETITIONER: The petitioner researched stands in April. In May. In September. On two occasions in January.
PRESIDING OFFICER: And the outcome of the research?
PETITIONER: The shoebox arrangement is technically functional. The petitioner identified several stands with strong reviews. None were ordered, because none performed the function better than the current arrangement in a way that felt proportional to the cost. The home setup is meant to simplify work, but every boundary requires another ritual.
PRESIDING OFFICER: The panel notes that the current arrangement is free.
PETITIONER: The current arrangement is not free. It contains a shoebox and eleven months of familiarity, which now constitute a kind of investment.
FINDING
Familiarity acquires authority once a workaround has been repeated in public. The laptop stand improvisation was visible on every video call for eleven months. Colleagues have adjusted their expectations to see the petitioner at a consistent height and angle. One colleague commented favorably on the background framing in November. The petitioner did not disclose the shoebox.
A workaround earns the status of infrastructure the moment it would be noticed by its absence. One successful use of laptop stand improvisation is remembered more clearly than the several hundred subsequent uses that were simply normal. The petitioner would need to explain any change to no one, yet the petitioner has treated any change as requiring justification.
The plan became stable. Removing laptop stand improvisation would now require a decision. The decision has been deferred eleven times.
HEARING ADJOURNED
Postscript: The shoebox was removed in March 2021 when its contents were needed. The stack has been slightly uneven since.