How come I don't believe all the good news about COVID-19 that I keep hearing on TV?
Why do I still believe it's still premature, both the good news and all the reopenings?
And why do I believe the world is never going back to March 1, 2020?
(I can partially answer my last question myself. It's because of all the talk I need to listen to about how different my job will be eventually: Do I want to continue to work at home? Do I want to return to the office? Do I want to do some sort of hybrid of the two? How will I feel about taking public transportation during morning and evening rush hour?)
I think you have to answer all three yourself, because what you believe depends on whether you're an optimist or a pessimist. I find the virus news constantly conflicted -- sometimes everything is good, but sometimes (see my post above) not so good. We've gone through a year-plus in which the world's experts keep changing their minds: No masks necessary, yes masks necessary (which some suspect the experts knew all along but wanted to make sure frontline healthcare workers got masks first). You can get it from touching objects -- except no, not really. Six feet away is safe -- oh wait, unless you're inside a building then the aerosol effect spreads it throughout the room.
As for going back to the office, I think that's less about what experts say than what employers/employees say. This employee, for one, has no interest in going back to the office full time. A lot of my colleagues miss the bustling exciting newsroom atmosphere. I, on the other hand, find my workplace pretty toxic (I'm not the only one in that camp) and would gladly avoid it as much as possible. Beyond that, commuting takes an hour a day, my parking ramp costs $150 a month, downtown lunches if I don't bring my own are all about $10 apiece (I do miss sushi bowls, though!). I live halfway between the downtown office and the geographic area I cover, so any day I'm going out there to do something in person (which is hardly ever these days, but could always pick up) I can get there much more quickly from home. I never did get super dressed up but now I can wear whatever I want and be as comfortable as I want.
The telling moment for me was when I needed to pick up something in the office and thought about going in on a Friday and then thought, no wait, I have to write a story on deadline that day so I can't take the time to go all the way downtown. The office is where I used to write stories on deadline!
Personally, the only thing I miss is seeing friends in person and movie theaters. And even the latter I'm not that eager for, especially since I can watch many of them much cheaper at home (though without the good popcorn
). My main movie theater, which is about 10 minutes from here, offers free parking and shows indie-ish movies, has closed, apparently permanently.
Recent Posts
