Loading...I used to have this running joke with people:
People: “How are you?”
Me: “Could be worse.” (everyone laughs) “Or maybe I shouldn’t tempt fate”
I’ve been thinking lately, is it me? Did I indeed tempt fate? Is it my fault that we are now in the midst of a global pandemic (depending on who you ask)? I’m going to say no, but you know, I’m white, middle aged and sort of liberal so I like to think I have that kind of power.
Dispatches from May 2020: Things are sort opening again and no one really feels great about that. I mean, mostly no one. I will caveat this by saying that I work in HR and my husband, Eric, works in live theatre. Things have been fun around the Sims household lately. In my industry, we have had quite a roller coaster, and lately we’re dealing with the questions about reopening. Here is a recent typical conversation with one of my clients:
Client: “Can you advise how we can safely go back to work?”
Me: “Work from home.”
Client: “But everyone wants to come back to the office.”
Me: “Why?”
I mean, cause I hate to break it to them, but all the reasons they want to come back to the office are about to go away. Remember your awesome “pets in the workplace” policy? Gone. Free snacks in the breakroom? Gone. Breakroom gone too. Frosted Flakes dispenser near the foosball table? Gone- both the Frosted Flakes and the foosball. Weekly happy hour with a free Uber ride home? Yep, you guessed it.
So really, why are we so hot to get back in the office? I mean unless you have a cat or a 2 year old isn’t it not only safer—but better to stay home? Maybe I’m projecting. I mean, honestly, I’m an HR Consultant, so I get paid whether you screw up the return to work or not- and if you do screw it up, I get paid more! So everyone wins! Or at least I do and the lawyers do, but as long as Trump doesn’t, we’re all good, literally.
I don’t want to get too intellectually political, only personally political. I’m not going to pretend I’m right or that I know a whole lot of the details which constitute the debacle of American society right now. If you want that, listen to the “You’re Wrong About” podcast. I have fastidiously avoided listening to, reading, or even acknowledging as English anything Trump has said for the past 35 years, but in particular the past 4. So, in fact checking, I may be wrong about some things. However, I am going to admit, and liberal friends don’t hate me because you guys could use to start forgiving people a little, when Trump was elected, I had this thought that he was such a buffoon that he was basically incapable of really accomplishing anything as president. I literally said to myself, “How bad can it be?” Thanks Fate for the answer being: “Worse than Vietnam.”
Quick, Oliver Stone, make a movie about COVID-19 before the election so we can all start feeling guilty enough and change our minds.
Nutshell time, lots and lots of people are dying or getting sick and lots and lots of people either don’t care or don’t believe it. I care, and I believe it, and I’ve been working from home for 5 years so what do I know about it?
