I don't miss the office

Would you miss having a salary?

I would miss not having one.

Same. Working from home at least for now. But extended time out of work has made me realize how much I didn't like my job.

Honey, I agree! I am so happy to be working from home. Unfortunately I still have to deal with lots of meetings, but nevertheless I get to be in the comfort of my own home.

Me too. Work in a library and as much as I enjoy the actual work I've realized I can't stand my colleagues. Never allowed myself the luxury? of realizing that before. It's going to be so hard to go back.

R5 Do you work in a college library 📚?

This forced working from home could have a permanent effect. I suspect many people are going to realize they didn't really like their job. Who knows? Maybe even realize that there's more to their fleeting life than work?

I hope it goes the other way around too. That companies also realize that allowing more work from home is good for them.

R6, public library in a nice suburb. Do you work in a college library?

I don't miss my office or my job. I miss some of my co-workers because they are nice people but I don't miss any of the managers. They micro-manage and just have no respect for staff or their mental health.

I also don't miss the rat race and dealing with people all day long. To be honest, I WANTED social distancing long before this happened. It has really bothered me the last few years how nobody has any respect for anyone's personal space.

I do miss doing engaging work, though. Because of the nature of my job I can't do a lot of the functions at home. It would be nice to search for other work but most places have a hiring freeze (understandably).

I think one of the reasons they want people back at work so quickly is because they're afraid people will realize how much they hate their jobs and will refuse to settle for the same again.

What we're going though has no precedent. I hope it leads to a positive transformation.

A good friend of mine (working from home) also said that when this is over, he is going to find another job. Interesting.

I somewhat miss the personal contact with people at the office, most of whom I like. I live alone, so I never see anyone except delivery people now.

On the other hand, it's wonderful not having to commute. In the old days, if I had a 9 a.m. meeting, I had to be up by 7 to get dressed and leave in time to allow for traffic and the 18 mile drive. Now, I roll out of bed at 8:50, make some coffee, and call into the meeting. Lovely.

Maybe people will realize that spending 40+ hours with people that are neither family nor friends is insane and unnatural. Fingers crossed.

I'm curious what will happen when things start to normalize (if they do).

Will there be a big push to work from home? Will office "modernization" finally be a concept that will be done away with and people can return to having spacious desks/cubicles where they don't have to be in such close proximity to one another?

Will airlines FINALLY stop putting people together like they are sardines on airplanes? If situations like the guy hitting the back of that woman's chair were happening before it's going to be even worse now.

I started working from home a while ago. What I don't miss is sharing a bathroom with so many other people. Also don't miss sharing a refrigerator with so many other people. Also don't miss the noise (talking and different kinds of music and radio).

[quote]To be honest, I WANTED social distancing long before this happened.

LOL

It will be long and hard, but I'll make it work for me.

Working from home, I appreciate my job even more.

I work about an hour a day and the rest I can do whatever I want.

What do you do the rest of the day, R20?

Before this happened, I had been begging to work from home just a few days per week and my boss was dead set against it. I'm worried about what will happen when the lockdowns are lifted, because there's no WAY I could psych myself into going back after this taste of freedom, but I don't think my idiot boss will have changed his stance.

I'm hoping that the lockdowns are eased gradually, so that maybe only 50% of our workforce has to return to the office, and I could "volunteer" to remain at home. But in the meantime, help me brainstorm ways I can make working from home permanent....claim PTSD as a disability?

I think offices will look to reduce office space and employees will be less inclined to spend time there. I think there is win/win potential if people can approach it with an open mind and be receptive to change. It will be hard to get people to work in the office full-time after it’s been made clear they can do their jobs as well from home.

Where I work, only management was allowed the privilege of working from home. Now, thanks to this emergency, they've discovered that a substantial percentage of staff jobs can be done off-site just fine.

Post-pandemic, I expect what this will mean is they'll outsource those jobs to a foreign country with cheaper-paid staff.

Also, since we're all working from home now, we have multiple online meetings a day, plus scheduled socialization time with our coworkers. They're trying really hard to be like cheerleaders, and it's driving me nuts. I don't want to spend more time in meetings, and I don't want to get to know my coworkers (and especially their kids and pets) any better than I already do.

R5 Coincidence, I also work in a public library in the suburbs. I miss a handful of my co-workers but I'm not exactly friends with any of them and there are several I'd be happy never working with again. lol

Sorry - I meant to include that I was reply 3, the one you were originally responding to, R5

And I want to add I'm a little annoyed by all the attempts by my boss to make us all 'closer' during this, asking us to share pics, stories about what we've been up to, what hobbies we have, how we're spending our days, etc. I actually now realize having a separate personal life is about the main thing that has kept me sane.

I'm finding the opposite.

What used to be handled via conference call where I needed to speak/answer questions for maybe 20 minutes of an hour-long call but then could spend the remaining 40 minutes doing other things (answering emails, ordering lunch, DLing, proofreading reports, etc.) is now done via Zoom and so everyone can see you not paying attention. Plus the Zooms last longer because everyone spends the first 15 minutes catching up and trading war stories, showing off kids and pets, etc.

If nothing else, I hope to God this pandemic puts an end to the open office concept.

I discovered many people in my building already work one or two days from home. I asked one why not all the time and she said, "Oh I just like going out to lunch and stuff".

That's not enough reason to spew more exhaust fumes into the environment.

Ditto OP and ditto R28.

R24 hit my point.

Once the employer realizes that you don't have to be in the office to do your job, it also means that they can replace you with somebody who doesn't live close to the office.

Supply goes up.......

Same here R4! Daily group check-ins, weekly department check-ins, happy hour check-ins where we drink and socialize over video. All full of contrived "caring about how you're all doing" and "we miss our big happy family".

^^Whoops, meant R24

I really don't get people who rely on work for their social contact needs. Get a life bitches! I would be just fine if I never had to step foot in the office again.

I truly hope this brings about a major revolution in the office workforce. It's way past time for more workers to stop wasting money, time and destroying the environment with commuting.

I only miss the cookies, birthday cak and leftover meeting pizza.

I just realized this is gonna hit the real estate market hard. Once employers figure out they don't need to continue to lease space guess what happens to commercial real estate.

You just realized this R36?? There have been multiple discussions about it here over the past few weeks. Commercial real estate is going to crater.

I'd already been teleworking 2 days a week, but 5 days has been surprisingly refreshing. I can sleep in, take a nice lunch jog in the middle of the day, be refreshed and work even longer because I don't have to worry about beating traffic to the gym or market or whatever.

I have time to make my partner and I real meals and wer're relaxing by 8 (he works). Normally, we'd be arriving home at 8 and dinner at 9-10.

It's the least stressed I've been at my job for a decade. Gonna feign COVID-19 terror until they drag my ass bag in.

[quote]I have time to make my partner and I real meals

Oh, dear. It's "my partner and me" here.

Jogging telemarketing queen doesn't know how to use personal pronouns correctly.

I dislike working remotely from home. I prefer having two monitors, better response time and lots of desk space. I'm looking forward to getting back to my office routine.

I have time to make my partner and I real meals

Actually R39 it’s “my partner and myself” here as R38 needed a reflexive pronoun. Your heart was in the right place though.

R40, you could probably reproduce that setup at home.

I never cared for that show either, OP. The British version was better.

I miss going into the office. Staying in my apartment all day everyday gets depressing. Like r49 said, my office set up also makes it easier to work (granted I could buy the proper equipment).

There is reason WeWork and similar companies got people to sign up for office space, I think a lot of people like having some sort of office space outside of their home.

There will be absolutely no change to the current system. It will only get worse.

We are in a depression.

People are going to be begging for work and the privilege of working 50-60 hours a week in an office by the fall.

R21, besides jerking off, reading, cleaning, cooking, organizing, gardening, etc

Employers will realize they don’t need to pay for huge offices. More hoteling

Im an extrovert. Not chatting up people is killing me

r40 you can buy monitors with all the money you would've spent commuting.

And to the people who are depressed working at home, do you invest in making your home comfortable and aesthetically pleasing to work in? My house is my fucking sanctuary on earth. My blood pressure goes up as soon as I walk into the office.

What is making working from home stressful is that our company installed a program that watches when you’re computer is active.

It also tells others that you are available to IM.

If you try to do anything else, the computer will lock and show you’re off line

R50, I'm sure someone entrepreneurial and a little tech-savvy will very quickly create a program to counter that.

All these grammar queens in here remind me of the grammar queen at my office who live to correct grammar.

Another reminder of why I'm enjoying working from home and not having to deal with annoying coworkers.

[quote]I don’t miss the office

Fuck you, OP! Just, just FUCK YOU, ASAP as possible with my George Foreman grill!

Librarian here and yes I'm fed up with all the group hug bullshit my boss is foisting on us. I'm so happy to be away from those people and he wants us all to "just check in and see how we're all doing." Well I'm doing fine solo, thanks so much. Also, Zoom conference calls and I don't trust Zoom.

How are suspected workplace affairs doing now?

The humanity!

[quote] How are suspected workplace affairs doing now?

Good question! Those affairs are being conducted separately, outside the main inter-office group.

Stay home!

While I hate working from home, I also don't miss the office, but it's more the waking up early, getting on public transit, walking to the office, and then back again after my day is done. I'm not looking forward to standing on a subway with a thousand other travellers, all within inches of each other (as they pack us in like sardines), making our way to and from the office. Is everyone going to wear a mask? I will but being so close to each other is uncomfortable in normal situations. I'm not sure how we'll handle it moving forward.

That's why I said earlier that I wanted social distancing r58 and someone LOL'd. It's ridiculous how many times a day we are subjected to people in our personal space - and they don't need to be. Why are you walking right behind me, or I'm on a subway and you stand right next to me when there is plenty of space? I don't get it.

I don't want to return to that.

[quote] Why are you walking right behind me,

You’ve got a great ass!

[quote]or I'm on a subway and you stand right next to me when there is plenty of space? I don't get it.

I’m sorry, r59, I just happen to find you hot as hell. I’m sorry that’s unrequited.

Our pay is being covered and I'm already friends outside of work with the few coworkers I like, so I don't miss anything about my job except the corn dogs.

I was already working from home most of the time, so an extra day a week teleworking wasn't much of a change. Like others have mentioned on here, I plan to milk this 100% work-from-home stuff as long as possible. I'm closing in on retirement and would love to never step foot into the office again. The extra time needed to get up, get ready, and get to work (and back home) is hours of my life wasted, with no benefit to work performance.

I miss Pretzel Day.

Can't wait to see how the urban density brigade is going to spin this. Here in SF everything has been built around mass transit, shared spaces/car rides/bikes/communal tables all in the name of "conserving resources."

BART ridership is down 95% and other regional transit is basically working off of bare bones-schedules. People seem to appreciate not being canned like sardines.

I have a private office, but all around me are open plan pigpens as far as the eye can see. Someone 2 feet to your left, to your right, in front of you, behind you, and the same with them. Yuck before even yuckier now.

I love it and hope it becomes the norm. My boss just texts me all of her complaints instead of coming into my office. I'll take the text any day.

Sexting and phone sex with a workplace affair is just not worth it imo.

We fukk (or "like") or coworkers just because they are there. crime of convenience or something.

I've never had a workplace affair. Too much drama even for me. All you have is your reputation.

I'm working from home and loving it. I like my work colleagues and my manager, but am not missing the commute

it is funny, cause usually the rules are set by the extroverted workaholics and suddenly we are in this different world. They're going a little nuts I'm sure, and I do feel a little bad for them, but I'm not hating this at all. Not hating working at home, not missing the office at all, not missing the whole stupid routine and the pretense that the vast majority of us really need to be "at work" 8 or more hours a day, five or more days a week. it's been bullshit for decades, but we've all kept it up out of habit. I hope we break that habit.

I’m just glad Ginny in Billing isn’t around to see this mess. She’d be coming to your houses with birthday cakes, the poor girl.

Excuse me, I’m a little verklempt.

It’s nice to not have to go into the office restroom and hear/smell people shitting.

I hadn't thought of the ones who carry the "I'm always at work" crucifixes high above their heads every day. Suddenly, being at work early and staying late does not get the ass kissing brownie points it once did.

I used to use that to my advantage when my breeder coworkers had to go take care of a kid thing. Used it to my advantage with great gusto. Guess now I'll switch to document floods.

Has anyone else found that your thinking is much clearer now that you're away from the office? Once you get rid of the extraneous nonsense involving colleagues, office politics, and ridiculous blah blah of the workplace, you can concentrate on deeper and more intense thoughts.

I always work better when I work from home. Normally WFH is reserved for time when you have to have someone come in to repair something at home, or time before or after a personal appointment. Normally I'm sitting in an office building with that "collaborative" open space where most of us are desperately trying to concentrate on convoluted strings of ideas and pulling in multiple sources of information, identifying where we are missing something we will need in order to get this done, etc. It's a farce in that extroverted excuse for packing bodie$ into a building. Too many overpaid underperforming pets blathering all around you, noisily pulling you away from your train of thought. It's a waste of the company's money. Wasted not just on the creatives who we all coddle and mustn't ask to stop loudly one-upping one another re: restaurants and travels 10 feet from our brains. The money is also wasted on the hours lost as the rest of us are pulled out of our thoughts and then try to ramp back up to untangling complexities.

I am able extend display from my laptop to a 22 inch LED TV I took out of my bedroom (should have never been in there anyway) so I have two monitors. If this goes on beyond May (likely) I might spring for a cheap extra monitor, since, as someone pointed out above, I'm saving money. I'm not going to Whole Food$ hot bar or the nearby re$taurant$ for lunch/reprieve. I'm not buying gas for a 40 mile round trip commute.

That commute really drives me insane, from the wasted time to the pollution to the idiots who nearly hit me every day. All the podcasts, meditation, and comedy recordings I listen to don't alleviate the anger. I used to think that if we had any kind of public transit available I'd be much better off, but now I'm seeing how much the physical commute is a waste of time.

As a senior member of my team, I'm asked a lot of questions about current state and I want to be available, but sometimes I really have to focus for a period of time, so I can switch to Do Not Disturb, temporarily, and the IMs will stop. Can't do that in an open space workstation.

I'm really at a loss as to what the downsides of working remotely are for me.

Yes, r72. I don't miss all the background noise, the gossip, the chip-in-for-a-cake-because-this-person-is-leaving messages, etc.

At first I thought you meant the TV series.

And I thought, "how very dare you"

Goddamn, I love you R73!

I am baffled by colleagues who have commented that they need to be in an office to work, or need other people around them working, in order to be productive themselves. They sound like toddlers who can’t concentrate unless the whole class is in quiet time.

For some time, particularly since the advent of the internet, demanding employees show up at an office at a certain time and leave at another prescribed time has been a largely pointless exercise that assumes being present is being productive. Many companies reward basic conformity in terms of hours or other readily observable behavior over actual advancement, perhaps because determining who in fact adds value is hard to put in a spreadsheet.

When organisations reward ticking boxes over actual achievement, it’s interesting that they are then confused when they go out of business or become irrelevant.

What the OP failed to notice is the rest of his office went back to work and just didn't tell him, because they can't stand him.

[quote]I really don't get people who rely on work for their social contact needs. Get a life bitches!

This has always driven me crazy. I don't need to be BFFs with my co-workers. It's like they have no friends or no social life. I've had a few co-workers over the years who have become personal friends of mine, but those are the exceptions. Most of the co-workers I've had are not people who I want to know much about and I don't give a fuck about their lives. As others have said, not being in the office and having all the inane chit-chat and office politics is very nice for a person like me.

Also like the above poster I love using my own bathroom and not having to walk into the men's room and smell and hear my co-workers taking shits all fucking day. I swear to Christ, the men I work with shit more than any other human beings on the face of the Earth.

I've taken to having a couple of cocktails before the daily afternoon Zoom conference sessions and it is HEAVENLY. A couple drinks makes a world of difference when it comes to tolerating your co-workers.

Seriously, I got over "office friends" at 30 once I realized most of these "friendships" are just to pass the 8 hours you have to keep your seat warm.

I'm in a professional field now and appreciate that my peers can be professional and leave it at that. Don't care about them or their lives, which after 30 revolve around their kids and patting themselves on the back for managing the onerous task of parenthood that people have done for 4,900,000,000 years.

I have one sad colleague who is the source of all office drama that is the exception. Everyone has learned to close their doors on Monday because she would otherwise spend two hours talking about her boring life, solar panels, being outbid on two homes, gossip about colleagues who don't kiss her ass. Waiting all weekend for that human interaction.

Get a life bitches.

Who's protecting our private account information, while people are home using their AOL dial-up 2002 computers to work on?

The problem is the Karens and their hubbies. If they can work from home all day, they'll quietly stop sending their kids to daycare to save money. How much work can they honestly do with a few kids running around the house shrieking? They'll need to prepare meals for the kids, take them to the park, etc. They will work two hours a day instead of eight.

The truth is that 10 percent of the population are slackers, regardless of age, generation, gender, marital status. But another 10 percent will gladly turn into slackers if the opportunity arises. "But I have kids!!!!!!".

r82 the Karens barely do any work when they're actually in the office anyway. Endless phone calls with their kids, endless coming in late and cutting out early because of some bullshit with their kids. Even the ones who have teenaged kids who are more than capable of taking care of themselves for a few hours.

R83, this. I posted upthread about my boss complaining to me (so happy to be out of the office), but it's never work related. Her husband or her mother, who hates her husband, her 15 year old daughter (who's gifted, but has to be spoonfed everything or she has a meltdown), and on and on. Now that they're all home together, it's constant texts about the kids or her husband not helping (hello, he's never helped), he's gone cycling and she has to clean up...I'm a gay black woman; why me? I don't deserve this and no one at work keeps her out of my hair.

[quote]I've taken to having a couple of cocktails before the daily afternoon Zoom conference sessions and it is HEAVENLY. A couple drinks makes a world of difference when it comes to tolerating your co-workers.

Yep. Around 2:30pm every work day, I’ve tolerated all I can tolerate for the day and start my own happy hour and have a drink 🥃 to reward myself for getting through another day of work I hate. I love it!

Everyone in this thread (myself included) is about to be outsourced to Bangladesh.

R86 At this point, I really don’t care.

I'm a bit worried because they are trying to redeploy us. My union informed us they are trying to get everyone working from home to work in shelters and long-term care facilities. Here in Toronto, there have been deaths in both areas.

The Karens at my workplace have barely attended any of the work meeting calls since the lockdown started. It's always some bullshit excuse about "childcare issues". Slacker bitches. Some of those "children" are in their early teens and fucking well capable of taking care of themselves.

R89 I get so sick of these useless cunts. And women wonder why they aren’t taken seriously in the workplace when they pull shit like this all the time.

It’s not just the Karens. It’s the office Alan Alda who believes being a good family man means kowtowing to every whim of his kids and stay at home wife, including keeping them entertained every minute of every day.

When we were in the office, Alan Alda took practically half the year off to go flying his family around the world because his wife was bored and wanted to travel. When Coronavirus concerns arose in early February, he was the first to try to pawn off all his work travel on the rest of us because “he has a wife and kids” and is thus more entitled to staying healthy and alive than the rest of us. Now in quarantine, he signs on early morning to show he’s “on the job,” disappears and/or is difficult to find for the next eight hours, and then makes a big show of messaging everyone “goodnight!” at 6 pm. Puhleez—he never actually worked beyond 4 pm in the years I’ve known him.

Another plus is that confined to my virus-free home, I don't need to wash my hands 200 times per day like I did back when I was using the workplace restrooms and so many other shared doorhandles. My hands no longer resemble rawhide!

I was recently unemployed before The Covid. I live alone but I’m so comfortable. My therapist accuses me of “hiding out”. I love the quiet — I really do. When friends fail to call regularly, meh. I have my books, my Netflix and Prime to protect me

[quote]My hands no longer resemble rawhide!

I doubt Crystal Allen would agree with your assessment.

R94 That hussy! I'll have you know that Mrs. Stephen Haines admires my hands, and she's a much better class of person.

OP, I hope this experience helps more people realize health insurance should never be tied to a job. There are 1,000,001 cranky people making life unpleasant for their coworkers by working just to access health benefits.

I started a new job recently and we're entirely WFH due to coronavirus. My last job was 100% in the office; only management was permitted to WFH.

I honestly can't think of a single reason I'd rather be in an office. People talk about missing out on the social aspect, but there is no amount of positive socialization that can balance out the negative, bitchy, back-stabbing, shove-your-way-to-the-top, two-faced, office politics bullshit to me.

This isolation just reminds me that... I don’t like people very much. I am appreciating every moment of this.

When I go out and have to stand in line for a grocery store, I am reminded of how selfish and entitled people are. Barking in their phones while holding up the line (and now wearing a mask as they squawk into their phone looking ridiculous). And then the behavior in the store - not social distancing and standing in the middle of the aisle or treating their cart like they are in Ford v Ferrari. I just can't wait to go home again.

There is just so much less bullshit to deal with.

I love not having to hear my straight douchebag co-workers talk endlessly about sports.

One of my frau coworkers actually had her little kid speaking the answers for her during our stupid team building activity over Skype because she thought it was cute. So unprofessional. And this is the same one who never knows WTF is going on. Well try paying attention to your damn work instead of playing with your kids during work time.

I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention. Did you say something?

Madysyn, come give r100 a raspberry, honey.

Given the tenuous state of the economy, how are these idiotic slacker breeders not snapping to attention? Do they have no idea how pointless they seem as resources?

R100 , that's very unprofessional to have your child participate in a work meeting like that.

That is so unprofessional - and embarrassing. Just because you're working from home doesn't mean you cannot distinguish between home time and work time.

It's people like her I cannot stand. They use their children as a means to do what they want. And if you say something, you are being insensitive.

R103 R104 Yep. Unfortunately though our managers are fraus too, so of course they didn’t tell her to stop that shit. Yet at the same time they get irritated at how she doesn’t know how to do any of the assignments given to her.

It’s sad how many people who are dead weight get to keep jobs when there are people out there who would love to put in hard work if they had the job.

I'm kind of in the middle. I'm not a social person, so working from home and not having to deal with people all day is heaven (plus I just like being home and have no problem staying in most of the time). The only thing about it that I don't like is that it takes away that separation I always like to have between work and home -- it annoys me that I'll be home all day but can't relax and enjoy it because I have to be online working the whole day. It's not helped by the fact that I absolutely fucking hate my job and have wanted to leave for a while, but now with the pandemic I feel trapped and like I sure as hell won't be able to get out for who knows how long. Of course I feel guilty as fuck even saying this because at least I have a job -- many people out there have lost theirs and can't pay their rent right now -- but my feelings are my feelings and I can't just change them to suit this strange new reality.

All of that said, like others I don't miss the commute and enjoy being able to sleep in every day before starting work. I also love the fact that I don't have to go get my boss's fucking lunch every day and dread the day I'll have to go back to doing that again.

[quote]It's not helped by the fact that I absolutely fucking hate my job and have wanted to leave for a while, but now with the pandemic I feel trapped and like I sure as hell won't be able to get out for who knows how long.

Yeah, a lot of people are feeling this way right now. God only knows when hiring will start up again. Everything's going to be frozen for a while.

I am not tired of my job. I'm tired of work. I'm tired of the rat race. I'm tired of the politics at work. I'm tired of the routine. I'm tired of the corp bullshit.

So yes, I'm happy about the current break I'm having from work.

I really hope there is a positive transformation after this. I feel like many people are reassessing their goals and needs and what is truly important to them. I know that sounds cheesy but when you're caught in the rat race sometimes it's hard to do self reflection.

The Pope is now talking about universal basic income. I'm hoping a lot of us are rethinking things like that, and the very nature of work, and do we need or want an economy that works like it has for the past 50 years, basically top heavy, feed the rich, a few bucks for everyone else, but a really ridiculous share going to the top 1 percent.

The Pope?

Really?

You mean the way the Catholic church set up its foundation during the colonial times that still remains the same in Catholic nations throughout the world today?

You mean the way the Catholic church set up its foundation during the colonial times that still remains the same in Catholic nations throughout the world today?

Exactly R110.

Don't reopen the country!

It doesn’t matter if it’s reopened right now, people will not go back. Maybe stupid southerners and Trumpies, so let them, and then they’ll die.

I’d like to believe that, r116, but given the state of the economy, you can even look at threads on this very board with people demanding they reopen, if your boss says “return to work or you’re fired,” it’ll be a tough choice for some to make.

Force Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and the Waltons to donate a day's take to a universal basic income fund so nobody HAS to work for six months. Allow essential workers to go out on strike until their employers provide adequate PPEs, hand sanitizers and other necessary supplies so they aren't needlessly being exposed to infection. Also, make it an unnegotiable condition of Trump being allowed on live television that appear without makeup and with a haircut no longer than 2 inches on any part of his scalp.

My workplace scheduled a 'virtual Happy Hour' tomorrow. I don't even want to attend their virtual bullshit social gatherings.....

Wally wants to sell you his wiener.

Wrong thread.

Doesn’t matter, r121, I’m buying!

Just had a nice wank off to deal with a stressful telephone meeting today. Can't do that at the office.

But I wish you would.

R124 I miss my eye candy and his crows feet rosy, Germanic face and probable saggy dick & balls. Haven't seen him in ~4 weeks and I have no reason to video him.

Still not missing the office.

Don't you just love not having to shit at work?

R127 Turns out this is why there's a TP shortage...

[quote]In short, the toilet paper industry is split into two, largely separate markets: commercial and consumer. The pandemic has shifted the lion’s share of demand to the latter. People actually do need to buy significantly more toilet paper during the pandemic — not because they’re making more trips to the bathroom, but because they’re making more of them at home. With some 75% of the U.S. population under stay-at-home orders, Americans are no longer using the restrooms at their workplace, in schools, at restaurants, at hotels, or in airports.

[quote]Georgia-Pacific, a leading toilet paper manufacturer based in Atlanta, estimates that the average household will use 40% more toilet paper than usual if all of its members are staying home around the clock. That’s a huge leap in demand for a product whose supply chain is predicated on the assumption that demand is essentially constant. It’s one that won’t fully subside even when people stop hoarding or panic-buying.

[quote]In theory, some of the mills that make commercial toilet paper could try to redirect some of that supply to the consumer market. People desperate for toilet paper probably wouldn’t turn up their noses at it. But the industry can’t just flip a switch. Shifting to retail channels would require new relationships and contracts between suppliers, distributors, and stores; different formats for packaging and shipping; new trucking routes — all for a bulky product with lean profit margins.

Thank you, R128. That's a good explanation.

[quote] Shifting to retail channels would require new relationships and contracts between suppliers, distributors, and stores; different formats for packaging and shipping; new trucking routes — all for a bulky product with lean profit margins.

None of these things are insuperable obstacles, nor do any of them require a lot to time to solve.. A president who actually wanted to help people and not just mouth off and make idiotic or kingly pronouncements would get the heads of the relevant companies together in a room, lock the door, and not let them out until they figured out how to get industrial-type TP to supermarkets for sale to consumers. If some of the government's largess is needed to temporarily support the cost of the shift, so be it.

I continue to be amazed that no person in authority - not the president, not Congress, none of the noisier governors - seems to be treating the shortages (not just of toilet paper but of everything) and difficulty of getting groceries and supplies as a serious problem that the government needs to intervene to solve. That's what government is supposed to do!

With all the idiots going to the beach over the weekend and spreading the joy to each others, I don't think I'll have to go back to the office for a while...

I had a great freelance telecommute job where there was no office at all, no chance of ever being called in. Hopefully this will give WFH the jumpstart it needs so that there are more options than medical billing jobs.

Part of what's stalled it I think are bosses who just don't want to let go. It's a control issue. How can you tell they're in charge, if you can't see the number of people they have working for them. Before this my group has been trying to move to a space we control, but is currently empty. The boss wouldn't let us because it's in a different building, harder to keep tabs. Even though it works better for what we need to do. Social distancing may force his hand, but my dream is telecommuting in my pajamas.

I don't miss the assholes at the office. That's for sure.

Ending month 3. And I still don't miss the office.

Entering month 3

A lot of narcissists and misanthropes on the thread deluding themselves that they are 'introverted'.

I don't miss you, either.

What kind of office do you work at? I feel like I have triple the Zoom meetings now than I ever had actual meetings.

Same for me, but I don't go to all of them.

Fuck you r135.

Personally r135, I am proud of my narcissism and misanthropy.

R138 Attending meetings is voluntary? I guess it depends on your job. I unfortunately have to show face at all of them and I’m over it. I can’t be in pajamas all day because people constantly see me. And my office had a lot of free snacks and free lunch that I unfortunately now have to buy myself. I’m ready to go back.

Just how fat are you r141?

R141 I’m not fat. Our office offered free yoga and pilates classes after work too.

[quote] What kind of office do you work at?

Oh, dear!

R130 agreed. June will see an uptick of cases because most/all states are opening back up in May (I know Ohio and NV for a fact). I hope I get to wfh all of June too, and maybe have to start going back in after 4th of July.

Meanwhile, enjoy our guaranteed wfh for all of May.

I thought this was about the TV show and was happy to find a compatriot who felt the same way as me since everyone else seems to love this show.

R146, see r53.

Now, dammit.

I have no desire to ever go back except clean out my cubicle.

It's so pointless to spend all that time, getting ready, commuting, to spend time at a desk when all that work can be done from home.

But I know "management" hates not being able to walk around and see everyone.

I also do not need to be around all those random people in an office environment.

Same r148. I hate about 85% of my coworkers. It's been SO nice not to have to interact with them all day long.

[R140], brilliant. Now, how do we fit that onto a license plate?

Some of us have had to keep going to work and wonder what we're missing. Going out into COVID world every day. My husband gets to stay home and lounge. I hate him.

I don't have to deal with 180 high school students every day. It's al distance learning until the end of the school year.

right there with you OP. Do not miss it at all. I don't think I ever would.

It's wonderful to be able to whip up a quick stir-fry or fresh salad for lunch instead of having to microwave some frozen crap or spend a bunch of money on takeout. Fresh good quality coffee all day long. My own bathroom, my Ipad nearby...heaven!

My fucking stupid ass company is already talking about our “re-entry” plan. WTF??? We are already doing just fine working from home so why the fuck are they rushing to get us back into the building?? Are they that desperate to make us miserable and risk our health??😡

They’re not gonna let that unused (and paid for) office space go to waste.

I said this in the other WFH thread. my job is starting to discuss what we're going to do when this whole thing is over. rumor is that all community spaces will ne closed and only 5 people in the building per floor. there's usually about 20 people per floor. so, unless you need to be in office that day, work from home. I am currently in office one half day a week and when we 'return' will likely be 2 full days or less in office. I couldn't be more excited. it's basically my dream come true

hope this leads to a big rethinking about work and offices and corporations and what the hell is the use of most of it. It seems like we did some shit in the 19th and early 20th century, and now we're all stuck with it forever. Maybe we shouldn't be.

I think that the only thing that companies could possibly have hold it up is the possibility of having to outfit people's home offices and them not returning the equipment. suck it up buttercups.

I fortunately had everything I needed to work from home at the same equivalent of what I have in office (nicer for some stuff) and think except for a laptop (maybe, but I do use my own) people should consider having a full set up ready

[quote]They’re not gonna let that unused (and paid for) office space go to waste.

They could save a fortune on rent.

They don't miss you either.

don't mind that, r161. [Why do extroverts always think that is the ultimate punishment?]

R57 that’s absolutely fuck’n horrendous, please make it go away

R70 Oh yes, shitting is the worst, the absolute fuck’n worst

I LOVE not having to take a shit in the office! I can shit in my own bathroom!

Ugh I just read that my county will likely allow reopening of professional offices on May 18. Those bitches can really fuck off. When I return to the office the first person that says good morning to me might get something thrown at them.

Just wait until we all go back to the office and everybody talks and talks and talks about everyfuckingthing they did during quarantine. I'm really dreading that. I really don't give a fuck about all the stuff you watched on Netflix and Amazon and what your stupid kids did.

If they try to force us back and endanger our health, I’d love to tell them to shove it. But I’m afraid it’s going to be hell trying to find something else in the current climate.

OP here. I need to say that I loved the first few seasons of the show "the office". A bit like I loved my job the first 10 years. After that, it went downhill. So, no, I'm not missing the office. Show or real.

OP here. I need to say that I loved the first few seasons of the show "the office". A bit like I loved my job the first 10 years. After that, it went downhill. So, no, I'm not missing the office. Show or real.

After 2 months at home, mostly alone, I'm no longer civilized. I don't know if I am capable of listening to fuckery I'm not remotely interested in, while looking rapt. Also, I'm 10 years away from retirement...this is not going to go well.

R36 - the whole work-from-home and reduction in downtown office space has been around for over 20 years. My former company forced people to work from home 3 days a week and rolled it out internationally with the expectation of saving over 50% in corporate real estate expenses.

But - that movement never fully materialized. There aren't tons of empty office buildings - except for some outer suburbs.

I don't think that the work-from-home will ever catch on fully. It's been technically possible for some time, but corporations don't like it.

Will this be the end of "Open Concept" offices and "hot desking"/"hotelling"?

and that makes me come back to an old theme r172, that corporate America is really much more about control than efficiency or productivity. They are the substitute government when government isn't controlling everyone and everything for large portions of the day.

R174 And there you have it right there. Even though it would save companies shitloads of money on renting or buying buildings and paying for utilities and upkeep, not to mention the fact that it would make everyone happier, it’s all about control.

I hope that people will really start some kind of revolt and start demanding that we get to work from home permanently, not only for an increase in happiness but our fucking health as well.

[quote] I hope that people will really start some kind of revolt and start demanding that we get to work from home permanently,

You can stay at home permanently.

I think the issue is more about 'fairness' - some employees have to be in the office, many do not. People bitch all the time about people who work from home, typically due to envy.

Offices existed because it was the only place where technology and tools existed to do the job. Today? Primarily the only resource you have uniquely in an office is people.

Face to face client meetings are important, as is collaboration for development. I don't think they go as well via teleconference.

And, unfortunately, there are many people who will just not do any work unless they are supervised. That's the truth - part of that is human nature to try and get away with whatever you can.

[quote]Face to face client meetings are important, as is collaboration for development. I don't think they go as well via teleconference.

They are, but people have too many meetings these days. I want to make a rule for my coworkers that if they can type an email in 10 minutes with what they need to discuss, you should not interrupt my work for a meeting. Most meetings are big time wasters about things that can be accomplished via email, especially if its just updates or directives. Meetings should be had when true problems need to be resolved and collaboration is needed.

Teleconferencing often doesn't go well because people don't prepare for them like they do a in person meeting.

I do understand the people who need an office to work. I am not defending the people who use their family as an excuse to ditch work. Imagine how demanding those coworkers would be if they were related to you.

In another life, I paid for an office sharing arrangement out of my own pocket. It was for appearances sake. I had a family then and a nice home office. But I found myself using the desk at the “office” so I could concentrate.

My point is good luck on seeing how well this sticks. Yes, it makes more sense for many people to work from home. Yes, it saves money. But In the end, those decisions will be made by people who need you in that office to justify their own usefulness. While you work all day to produce something, they work all day to claim credit for it.

I know because I have played that game. I looked at my salary and said to myself “how do I justify this ample paycheck I am receiving?” It is going to be hard to push people from afar when they have so many built in excuses at home.

I don’t see how the fraus would stay home with their kids and miss the opportunity to brag about what Caydyn did over the weekend to everyone at the office.

Work from home is here to stay.

Many straight men can't stand being home with their wives for the full 40 hour work week. Don't know if it's the nagging or what. Ask your straight coworkers, especially those 50+ and up. They must get no afternoon delight from wifey to make it worthwhile.

One of the best things about being gay is that I don't have to deal with some nagging harpie shrew hag of a wife. I pity these straight guys who are married to women like that. It must be total torture to live with those bitches.

R182 is a 6000 year old grandma.

[quote]I don’t see how the fraus would stay home with their kids and miss the opportunity to brag about what Caydyn did over the weekend to everyone at the office.

Are you kidding? Us working from home the past two months has not changed any of that. Every day at our morning meetings on Zoom they still do that shit, so that’s still no reason for us to go back into office buildings.

[quote]Many straight men can't stand being home with their wives for the full 40 hour work week.

That’s their fucking problem, not mine. Shouldn’t have gotten married and/or had kids then.

I condole you, r185.

That’s horrific.

Thank god I don’t work in an office setting.

I was already working from home before the pandemic.

For those of you who are on the fence about, you've only been doing it for a couple of months now. For me, it took longer than that to get used to it and get a good system going. After that, I think you will enjoy it more.

My work is mainly deadline-driven. As long as I meet my deadlines, I'm OK. (I don't have somebody checking for keystrokes on my computer.) So, it might be harder for others than it was for me.

R187 Yes, it’s awful. I’m not joking when I say that they also sometimes even put their kids on during our video meetings to do something “sweet” and “cutesy” so that they can get attention. It’s so unprofessional.

So WFH has not stopped the ramblings about Maddysen and Cayden at all.

I have just as many long, boring meetings, but by Zoom, which is so much worse to me. And since the first week of quarantine my office has had a “happy hour” from 5-6 every Thursday on Zoom and it is fucking horrible. The president talks about himself, his family, his pets. We all just stare into the camera. I opted out one week and was harassed by people for not being there even though I never talk. This week it was about my boss’s 96 year-old mother’s nursing home concierge grocery shopping for her and college sports. Some of these Zoom things give me anxiety like I’ve rarely had from other things in life.

[quote] This week it was about my boss’s 96 year-old mother’s nursing home concierge grocery shopping for her and college sports.

Why would the concierge shop for athletes? Can’t they shop for themselves?

R48, people don’t exist to amuse you.

[quote]And since the first week of quarantine my office has had a “happy hour” from 5-6 every Thursday on Zoom and it is fucking horrible. The president talks about himself, his family, his pets. We all just stare into the camera. I opted out one week and was harassed by people for not being there even though I never talk. This week it was about my boss’s 96 year-old mother’s nursing home concierge grocery shopping for her and college sports.

It just goes to show how pathetic some of these people’s lives are and how they have no lives outside of work.

R89: Too true! My 11 year old does Zoom classes online, classwork, homework, then reads, phone, watches anime the rest of the day. I don't even see her except breakfast, lunch, dinner time. Her tween choice - not mine! Anyway, I can work easily all day without being distrubed. So, those Karen excuses are bullshit unless they have younger and/or clingy kids.

and as always I suspect most of those very necessary meetings are completely unnecessary. The karens that aren't attending are probably not missing anything at all. we have daily "huddles" in which everyone goes around and blathers about what they are doing and nobody gives a shit. it is a complete waste of time except for the only purpose, the true purpose, control and proving that everyone is available and jumping through corporate hoops.

need to rethink this whole fucking system, cause right now it's mainly bullshit for bullshit's sake.

I’m an information architect at Staples headquarters outside Boston and we just learned that we will not be going back to the office this year. The key sticking point seems to be the Impracticality of wearing face masks in the office. Large segments of employees will be shifted to remote work permanently to assuage distancing fears.

Overall the company is favorably impressed by how well everyone has adapted.

R196: My company (digital agency in NYC) says not before September👍Then, they will reevaluate.

at least there's alcohol r190, but at least there is alcohol. Thank the jeebus. We do the same thing, quarantinis. And really, alcohol makes so many things so much more bearable. maybe if I am forced to go back to the office, I should get a flask.

Actually - I think some of you made some good points. There may be many men and women who want to go into the office to get a break away from their spouses and kids.

Particularly the upper male executives who seem to have a lot of stay-at-home wives.

And many upper execs like the feeling of power when they come into an office.

I never considered that angle - that's probably the real reason we'll never have a commitment to WFH. Too many people want the home escape and social interaction of other adults and there are others that need the ego-stroking from those working underneath them.

maybe you're right r199, but can't we just revive Gentlemen's Clubs, and i don't even mean strip clubs. Just men-only clubs where straight guys can go to get away from their wives and kids and pretend to be doing important business deals and reading the London Times and not drag the rest of us into their stupid mess.

[quote] There may be many men and women who want to go into the office to get a break away from their spouses and kids. Particularly the upper male executives who seem to have a lot of stay-at-home wives.

At my old job, I had to do an important presentation (outside of the office) with my boss. IMO, we had time to prepare during normal working hours and I even offered to stay late on work days so that we could prepare for the presentation. We ended up, on a Saturday (day off), in the office. I was pissed that it ended up like that and I did confront him (boss) about it.

Later, I bitched about it to a coworker who said that my boss was trying to get away from his wife and 4 kids. (He impregnated a woman he met in a bar, got married, and she had more kids than he wanted, I think.)

seriously, straight guys need some place besides the office. strip clubs, something. just somewhere to go for a few hours away from the wife and kids without making the rest of us be there.

or maybe the Extroverts' Lounge. Somewhere all extroverts can gather to share and discuss and have endless meetings about nothing, that the rest of us are free to never, ever attend.

[quote]we have daily "huddles" in which everyone goes around and blathers about what they are doing and nobody gives a shit.

Do you and I work for the same place? They call them “huddles” at my workplace too and we have them everyday and they are a fucking waste of time.

[quote]seriously, straight guys need some place besides the office.

That’s their problem, not mine. They chose to get tied down and have kids so they can deal with the consequences once the novelty wears off.

or virual happy hours. snore!

R196 Sounds like you work for a smart company.

Telework is becoming popular and some businesses are letting employees delay returning to the office. I teleworked 4 days a week and now do it full time. We've heard the office reopening won't happen at least through August. I hope it goes on longer. I get more done for work at home and can still get laundry and some other things done during the day as well.

And, the more I think about it, going into the office also gives execs and upper management the opportunity to go out to business dinners (for free - on the company's expense) and have drinks/socialize with others outside of the family without any penalty from the family.

I can't tell you how many business dinners I've been dragged to where, out of 2-3 hours, we discussed business maybe 15 minutes. Hate them. My boss was always saying - hey, it's 5:30! Martini time! Where are we going tonight?

I've never heard female bosses with a family say this. Ever.

and that's the thing, r209, you need to do that shit to be important people, okay, can you leave the rest of us out of it? or my ever recurring theme, it's still all about control?

and that's what the glibertarians don't get. Corporate America can be just as oppressive as any government. Maybe we need a Bill of Rights for Workers. A fuck off to Corporate America about what they are not allowed to want or demand or have stupid whims about.

[quote]I can't tell you how many business dinners I've been dragged to where, out of 2-3 hours, we discussed business maybe 15 minutes. Hate them. My boss was always saying - hey, it's 5:30! Martini time! Where are we going tonight?

Is he straight? If so, you should start making all conversations at these happy hours be about gay topics (boyfriends, dates, current gay issues, etc). Then maybe he’d back the fuck off and quit insisting you come.

It is plainly obvious that many of the people on this thread have never set foot in an office in their lives, certainly not since 1973.

R213 How did you reach that conclusion?

oh fuck, don't tell me you work in a "fun" office r213. I condole you.

and if you're a Boris r213, nobody believes you work in anything but a shithouse with absolutely nothing worthwhile going on, ever.

213 is the Information Architect at Staples who won't be going in for several more months.

Please r213 - do tell us about office life since the rest of us are know-nothings.

I don't like working remotely from home. As for being glad there are no meetings to attend, my company actually has more meetings now, daily Zoom meeting, Webex, phone conferences. I hate it because it takes me away from doing all my duties. Also I have a small computer desk at home, at work I have a very large desk. The only thing I don't miss is the subway commute.

and this, r218, is why I always try to remember. some people like it. for some of us, the office works fine. for me, and a lot of others, it's a goddamn bore from start to finish. I hope that when all this is done, we all get to decide, home or office.

Well, for one thing, R217, it’s nothing like an episode of Mad Men, which is obviously the template for many of the fantasies laid out on this thread.

really, you think that is what is happening here, r220? You think Datalounge, and dataloungers, are pining for Mad Men type offices? That is what you think is happening here? Really?

this is why I cannot, try as I do, try as I can, this is why I cannot believe that any conservative actually has an honest complaint about anything, ever. this is the thing. this is the reality. there is not a conservative or Republican who actually has a serious case to make about anything at all, ever. this, this r220 thing, is a perfect example of how no conservative actually knows shit about shit, or at least is honest about anything in reality.

Is your shift button broken?

I think r220 is referring to my boss's comment about Martini time. I assure you - that was a thing - in 2020. No martinis in the office - but that was a sign that we're going out for drinks afterwards. He had a double vodka martini no vermouth, which is basically all vodka.

And R220 works in IT - you may not have much schmoozing with clients and vendors, but many of us do. Too much.

I used to work in IT - talk about a social-avoidant group of...well...nerdy IT people. I can understand your perspective, but trust me, IT departments are the polar opposite of other departments - particularly Marketing, Sales and Media.

[quote]I always try to remember. some people like it. for some of us, the office works fine. for me, and a lot of others, it's a goddamn bore from start to finish. I hope that when all this is done, we all get to decide, home or office.

My fear is that, even if some people in the company are given the option, because I work as an executive assistant, I will have no choice but to go back if the person I work for goes back (which I fully expect her to do). If this happens, it will crystallize for me once again why I hate this line of work.

R234, marketing and sales are effectively my customers. I deal with them all day every day. The information and systems that I design and build are designed and built for their usage in running their programs and departments. They are nothing like you describe. Because this is not 1969. Please update your references.

[quote]It just goes to show how pathetic some of these people’s lives are and how they have no lives outside of work.

Exactly. Fortunately, my workplace does not have Zoom "happy hours" (that sounds horrifying and all my sympathy goes to the poster upthread who has to endure them) but our Zoom meetings would take 1/2 the time if some of my co-workers would just STFU and not treat a business meeting as a social hour. So many people apparently have no social lives and it's very irritating.

While there’s a lot I don’t miss about going to the office every day, I hate how during this quarantine it seems like life/work line has blurred too much.

[quote]seriously, straight guys need some place besides the office. strip clubs, something. just somewhere to go for a few hours away from the wife and kids without making the rest of us be there.

I think that as gay people we tend to forget this. We either live alone or live with a same-sex partner we're very compatible with. We don't have a harpie Karen wife and bratty kids at home so we don't think of "home" as a place we have to get away from. Straight guys often have shit home lives because of their bitch wives and obnoxious kids.

Excellent point, R229.

[quote]Straight guys often have shit home lives because of their bitch wives and obnoxious kids.

As already stated, they chose to get married and have crotch droppings, so that’s their problem to deal with the choices they made.

r231 sometimes your choices don't work out the way you thought they would. That's called "life."

[quote] Straight guys often have shit home lives because of their bitch wives and obnoxious kids.

Oh cry me a river. Straight guys don't do anything they don't want to, so obviously they wanted to marry and have children. And when it comes down to it, they wouldn't trade lives with most of our lonely selves.

R233 Thank you! I don’t feel sorry for straight men. They have life easier than anyone else, so too fucking bad if they are miserable. They chose their life.

R226 - interacting with marketing and sales departments to get technical requirements and actually working in those departments are two different things.

Nothing in this thread is being made up - your singular experience of working in IT at Staples in Boston is not the norm for everyone else. My experience working in IT was vastly different (pretty tame and boring) than when I switched to the Marketing and Media departments - even within the same company.

Update YOUR perspective - you're not the know-all of office work environments.

I find I get a lot more done in less time.

My job doesn't really require me to be in the office much as it is--the clients I deal with are rarely local and the work I do is mostly a solo effort, or, if it's a group project, it's more like "You take this piece, you take this piece" and Google Docs makes it easy for everyone to collaborate.

The only downside is that since weekends are no different than weekdays, I find myself slacking on Friday so I'll have something to do on Saturday or Sunday other than walking the dog, cooking or watching Netflix.

I find that having a glass of scotch before the interminable Zoom meetings makes me able to tolerate my co-workers a little better.

[quote]I don't miss the office

I do.

At least with every bullet so far.

My job drove me to drinking years ago and taking ayahuasca forced me to realize I was poisoning myself in response to a toxic world. I can’t go back and do that again. Even if I wanted to, those ayahuasca experience drilled it into my psyche that I really do not want to poison myself.

I’m the one with the semi-mandatory happy hour. I was going to skip it last week and my boss scheduled a last-minute Zoom meeting at 4:30 and then said at the end “see you at 5.” I groaned and he told me to have a drink. I told him I don’t have any alcohol here and he said that’s the problem—that I should go put on a mask and get some whiskey to make the “happy hour” tolerable. Fuck that.

I can't stand the corp culture, and the hypocrisy that pervades all communication from management. At least they stopped saying "take care" at the end of the zoom meetings now. And asking how we're all doing. They don't give a fuck how we're all doing.

Nobody gives a fuck how anyone they work with is doing.

R241 That's a gross overstatement. I care about many of them, but not all of them.

Agreed, R242. I may not like every single person I work with but still wish them all good health and hope they get through this time alive.

And yet if they didn’t ask, the refrain would be, “They don’t even give a fuck about us. Not one manager asked how we were doing or anything! They don’t care.”

R242 thats true for me too, but not all offices are like ours, some of the people on this thread clearly work in fairly toxic environments with some pretty toxic people. I am lucky in that I work for a really good company with people that are mostly pretty nice, its also IT related which i think makes a difference too. I care about my co-workers as does my manager (who is a really likeable person) but not everybody is so lucky

Many of the employment agencies in my city are advertising temp assignments that are work from home until companies begin opening their offices again. I've been looking for another job due to an under-staffing nightmare evolving with my current employer.

I was part of a three-person team, but soon I will be the only employee left. One coworker left in February, with four days' notice. The other is going on maternity leave soon, and confided that she is not coming back. Our managers did not replace the employee who quit, because hiring has been frozen since January. Both coworkers had years of experience with our department. I have been on the team only six months, and I was not cross-trained on their duties. On June 1st the company is ending COVID-19 telecommuting - so I will be back in the office, dealing with irate co-workers screaming in my face because I can't do my job plus the jobs of two vastly more experienced teammates.

Kind of a side issue, but I've gone commando working at home. Never wear more than PJ bottoms and a T shirt. It's so much better than having my nuts in purgatory. I hope it won't be an issue if I have to return to an office, cause my boys will be going free.

PS: careful not to sit on them!

I’m not going back until there’s a vaccine and that’s final.

WFH is here to stay. I work at a global engineering consulting firm (finance department) and our CEO in Canada has just proposed more days to work at home when everything settles and we see some semblance of normal life. Before the pandemic my team was already working from home once a week. Heaven!

R249 Do you need an assistant by any chance?

Dear Sylvia,

Thank you so much for your interest in *insert engineering firm*. We admire your dedication to safety and your wealth of knowledge regarding the Covid-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, we have found someone else whose qualifications better suit our needs at this time. We will keep your resume on file for the next six months if you're a match for an open position. Best of luck in your future endeavours!

Regards,

There are definite pros and cons, but it REALLY feels a lot more civilized and sane not to have to get all dressed up and scamper out the door on time to get to work on time...and then boot up the computer, get coffee, waste an hour chit chatting with people, try to answer emails while being interrupted, run here and there for meetings, etc.

Being able to just wake up and then get to work has major advantages.

Sylvia, consider yourself lucky.

I heard that Alina woman was a bitch.