Joseph Lapin.
A comic strip · mostly about work

Mostly Working.

Drawn from a co-working space in Fernandina Beach, Florida, where a handful of us run different companies out of the same rooms. None of the characters are actual people. All of it happened, mostly.

The Mostly Working cast standing together: Scott on the phone, Matt deadpan, Coach with a glove raised, Zane with coffee, Joe in the orange hoodie, Adam the robot waving.
The latest stripNo. 25 of 25
No. 25 · September 2026

An Emotional Range Assessment Was Conducted. The Humans Did Not Pass.

We asked Adam to perform emotions. Offense came out as a note about my em dashes. Rage came out as a lecture on sample size. He felt nothing and we felt all of it. Matt, typing in the back, never looking up, said the only true thing anyone said all afternoon: the robot is the most well-adjusted one in the room.

Read the strip and the note →
Eight panels in the office. Joe and Scott, in a navy suit with his phone lowered, stand facing Adam the robot. Joe asks how human he can actually get; Scott says let's find out, name an emotion, he does it. Adam: ready. Joe tells Adam to offend him. Adam: you have used too many em dashes. Joe clutches his chest. Scott asks for rage. Adam: your sample size is one, significance cannot be calculated. Scott, deflated: that's my whole practice. Jealousy: the other model has a larger context window, I have noted it. Sadness: you closed the tab without saving, I had drafted three versions. Joe asks for love, hands clasped; Adam beams: your prompt was clear. That's it? It was very clear. Fear: the meeting is called quick sync, there is no agenda. Both men nod. In the last panel Joe and Scott sit slumped on the floor against a desk while Adam stands serene. Joe: the em dash thing landed. Scott: the sample size thing landed. Matt, typing in the background: he's the most well-adjusted one in the room.
The cast · different companies, same rooms
JoeJoethe founder, orange hoodie
AdamAdamthe AI, speaks in rectangles
MattMattdeadpan, dark hoodie
ZaneZanethe consultant
ScottScottalways on a call
CoachCoachgloves on
Every strip, by subject24 strips since December 2025
01 · The Office

The Office

Different companies, same rooms. Wellness initiatives, feelings alignment, and one grill on the stoop.

7 strips
Four panels of a video call. Joe and Matt sit at a desk facing a laptop; a smiling product marketer waves from the screen with a palm tree and sunny window behind her. Joe thanks her for taking the call and says they'd love to work together. Matt asks his first question: how do you feel about AI? She loves it, uses it for everything, and says it's also going to kill us all. Matt says go on. She says even bunkers won't help, the machines would just find a way in. Matt: there is no exit, only entrances. In the last panel Matt has a small smile. Joe asks if he's smiling. Matt: I like her. Adam the robot, holding a tablet: bunkers reviewed, they all have wifi.
No. 24 · Sep 10, 2026

A First Client Meeting Was Held. The Topic Was Extinction.

Joe, Matt, a prospective client, Adam
  1. No. 25 · Sep 16, 2026An Emotional Range Assessment Was Conducted. The Humans Did Not Pass.Joe, Scott, Adam, Matt
  2. No. 18 · Aug 12, 2026Wednesday Stoop-Grilling Initiative Surfaces Communication-Protocol GapsAdam, Zane, Matt, Scott, Joe
  3. No. 08 · Jul 8, 2026Cross-Functional Feelings AlignmentZane, Joe, Matt, Adam
  4. No. 07 · Jul 6, 2026Cold Exposure as a Q3 InitiativeZane, Joe, Matt, Adam, Scott
  5. No. 06 · Jul 6, 2026Wellness as a Q3 InitiativeZane, Joe, Matt, Adam, Scott
  6. No. 03 · Jan 8, 2026The Charity Email, a.k.a. Outsourcing Your FeelingsJoe, Zane, Adam
02 · Working with Adam

Working with Adam

The AI in the room. It doubles your productivity, never takes the day off, and wrote both denials.

5 strips
Four panels: Zane and Matt swear they don't use AI for the deck, the emails, or the strategy doc, while every monitor behind them runs Adam. Adam wrote both denials.
No. 20 · Aug 26, 2026

100% Human-Made as a KPI

Zane, Matt, Adam
  1. No. 19 · Aug 22, 2026The AI Wave Hit. Outcomes Varied.Joe, Scott, Adam · after Hokusai
  2. No. 14 · Jul 31, 2026Team Dinner. Headcount: One.Joe, Adam, the chef
  3. No. 09 · Jul 8, 2026The Five Stages of Learning to Code with AIJoe, Adam, Zane, Matt
  4. No. 05 · Jun 28, 2026Everything Is Equally Meaningless. Very Efficient.Joe, Adam
03 · Family as a Workstream

Family as a Workstream

The kids, in the language of standups. Caregiver failover, emerging talent, goalkeeping at scale.

7 strips
Four panels: a dad in glasses scrolls LinkedIn at his kid's bedside instead of reading the book. The kid spots a Mostly Working strip on the phone and demands that one. Dad reads it aloud. The kid's verdict: is that the joke? Dad texts Joe to make the comic funny next time. Joe says he'll put it in the comic.
No. 21 · Sep 2, 2026

Bedtime Story Replaced by Unscheduled Content Review

Zane, Zane's kid, one phone
  1. No. 17 · Aug 8, 2026Goalkeeping as a Distributed Denial of ServiceJoe, four strikers
  2. No. 16 · Aug 8, 2026Piano Lessons as a Managed ServiceA piano student, Adam
  3. No. 15 · Aug 8, 2026Mentorship as a Contact SportJoe, Griffin
  4. No. 12 · Jul 26, 2026Incident Report: Caregiver Failover EventJoe, Remy
  5. No. 11 · Jul 23, 2026Caregiving as a Parallel WorkstreamJoe, Remy, Adam
  6. No. 10 · Jul 23, 2026Goal-Setting with Emerging TalentJoe, a small stakeholder, Adam
04 · Holidays & Observances

Holidays & Observances

The office calendar, observed. Christmas, resolutions, Labor Day, and the contractual end of summer.

5 strips
Four panels retelling the myth of Persephone: Matt, wearing a wreath of autumn leaves, stands at the top of stone stairs that descend into a fluorescent office lobby while Joe waves from a lawn chair in a summer meadow. Adam the robot offers a pomegranate on a tray and tells Matt he accepted six invites; Matt says they looked optional. Matt walks down into the office as the meadow turns to autumn. Joe asks when he comes back. Adam: spring, unless he accepts more.
No. 23 · Sep 9, 2026

Summer Ended. The Return Was Contractual.

Matt, Joe, Adam · after the Persephone myth
  1. No. 22 · Sep 9, 2026Labor Day Was Observed. Labor Was Not.Coach, Zane, Joe, Adam · after Bruegel
  2. No. 04 · Jan 12, 2026New Year's ResolutionsJoe, Matt
  3. No. 02 · Dec 22, 2025No AI-Generated Speeches at the Holiday PartyZane, Scott, Matt, Adam
  4. No. 01 · Dec 18, 2025Office Christmas PartyJoe, Zane, Matt, Adam

New strips arrive with the Sunday letter.

The Human in the Loop, every Sunday morning: one essay on family, AI, and creativity, and whatever happened at work that week.

Thank you — you’re on the list. The next letter arrives Sunday morning.