Forgive me for sharing something that’s mostly just a brief shot of feeling. But when I see that Eric Adams is urging companies to force their employees to come back to the office in NYC, and further see how much derision and mockery he’s received in return, I really do worry for our future. So many people seem dead set on spending their entire lives in their holes, surviving with Amazon and Instacart and DoorDash and Peloton and Netflix and Pornhub. And aside from that seeming like an impoverished way to live to me personally, I genuinely wonder what happens to basic civic functioning when people never interact with any of their neighbors. It feels dystopian to me.
I'm cool with an optional return to offices. I don't want to be forced back by nosy bosses though.
Also many of us work for companies that are HQed in a different city, or who simply don't have offices large enough to fit the whole workforce. I'd rather not lose my job to support the local dry cleaner.
The left/liberal/blue state whatever neuroticism is really distressing. Different than the other side but both are symptoms of a decline of broad social group engagement. Commute to work, buy a coffee, take your mask off outside, buy a lunch, say hello to a stranger. It’s good for you and it’s good for us all!
I teach high school and obviously cell phones are a constant issue. But the thing is - kids used to use them to actually communicate with each other on the sly! But now they're all diving down into these little algorithmically-curated hard drives that the internet has created for them and placed in their pocket. They're interacting with brands and videos and games that have no connection to a real person on the other end. And they're doing this stuff all day, even when they're around other people! I had a long chat with a student a few weeks ago whose average daily screentime is nearly 13 hours. She's not happy. She hates it. She feels isolated. But she can't stop.
Working remotely has enabled me to connect deeply with my neighbours in a way I never did while commuting. I take in parcels, wave to retirees while walking the dog at lunchtimes and so on. I’m an introvert. It may seem strange to you, but the world has changed in a way that’s much better for us. I’ve lived my life in a dystopian world of open plan, shared offices and forced social exchanges with colleagues. Don’t fret. We’ll be fine, and you have the evenings to socialise :-)
The powers that be are saying they will drop a lot of the restrictions in my state. The COVID realists are freaking out in the comments section of the Seattle Times.
I've helped raise kids. It's like getting children to give up their binkies or to stop thumb sucking.
I agree with you — being holed up is destructive in the ways you describe. I worry too.
Trying to conduct a social life online seems most destructive of all. But for certain types of work, I’m less convinced.
Being required to appear for work at a job you will do at a computer in some faraway office, spending two hours every day getting to and from, when you could do the work from a computer in your home, in comfortable clothes, with your comfortable furniture, with appealing and less expensive food and coffee nearby, with a fraction of the interruptions—well, that seems like a lot to ask people to give up, to sit in front of a computer far away.
Many of our jobs were already very disconnected from people. We just did them far away from home in a very inconvenient way.
You can see why people would prefer an extra couple hours in their day.
Maybe urging “office people” back for one day a week would be the best solution.
Also important: I work for a union of state-employed professional employees, and it has proven infinitely harder to build solidarity among workers in the telework era. One of the keys to a strong union is is the conversation around the water cooler, or in the lunchroom or the hall: those conversations are now almost gone, and organizing has been incredibly difficult. By separating people, they can't as easily share stories about working conditions; just as important, they don't feel as connected to their coworkers. So in the last two years we've suddenly been sent into something of a tailspin as all our old strategies for organizing have been thrown out the window.
As someone who wants the option to remain working from home: there's plenty of ways to interact with others, and work, for many of us, is one of the poorest. Not commuting gives me more time (and for me "commuting" means "an hour alone in a car"). Half of my coworkers are in India either way, and my job contains no interaction with the public or clients. Do I miss playing boards games over lunch with my work buddies? Sure. But if I weigh that against having more time at home, being able to sleep in a little longer, and being able to complete some chores like laundry or baking something complicated while at work...it's not even a contest.
I want more activities to drop restrictions and go back to in-person so I can see people, but work? Eh.
I often stay in my apartment, but that has little to do with covid and a lot more to do with social anxiety, which I've struggled with my whole life. I've screwed up and misread countless social cues and very easily feel deep shame and embarrassment. I don't date because I'm scared of rejection.
Having said all that, I still don't want "Lockdowns Until Zero COVID." People need socialization, even if I myself struggle with it.
As one myself, this strikes me as a deeply childless perspective. Parents already have other avenues for social interaction structurally created by caring for their children. These activities are also costly in terms of time spent, and getting back commuting time and gaining associated flexibility in organizing one's life are much more valuable and less costly from the social standpoint. Singles, 100% agree. Childless couples, I'm mostly on board. But this has been a godsend for the parents I know.
I couldn't agree more. It's not healthy.
I'm cool with an optional return to offices. I don't want to be forced back by nosy bosses though.
Also many of us work for companies that are HQed in a different city, or who simply don't have offices large enough to fit the whole workforce. I'd rather not lose my job to support the local dry cleaner.
The left/liberal/blue state whatever neuroticism is really distressing. Different than the other side but both are symptoms of a decline of broad social group engagement. Commute to work, buy a coffee, take your mask off outside, buy a lunch, say hello to a stranger. It’s good for you and it’s good for us all!
I teach high school and obviously cell phones are a constant issue. But the thing is - kids used to use them to actually communicate with each other on the sly! But now they're all diving down into these little algorithmically-curated hard drives that the internet has created for them and placed in their pocket. They're interacting with brands and videos and games that have no connection to a real person on the other end. And they're doing this stuff all day, even when they're around other people! I had a long chat with a student a few weeks ago whose average daily screentime is nearly 13 hours. She's not happy. She hates it. She feels isolated. But she can't stop.
I'm worried too.
Working remotely has enabled me to connect deeply with my neighbours in a way I never did while commuting. I take in parcels, wave to retirees while walking the dog at lunchtimes and so on. I’m an introvert. It may seem strange to you, but the world has changed in a way that’s much better for us. I’ve lived my life in a dystopian world of open plan, shared offices and forced social exchanges with colleagues. Don’t fret. We’ll be fine, and you have the evenings to socialise :-)
The powers that be are saying they will drop a lot of the restrictions in my state. The COVID realists are freaking out in the comments section of the Seattle Times.
I've helped raise kids. It's like getting children to give up their binkies or to stop thumb sucking.
I agree with you — being holed up is destructive in the ways you describe. I worry too.
Trying to conduct a social life online seems most destructive of all. But for certain types of work, I’m less convinced.
Being required to appear for work at a job you will do at a computer in some faraway office, spending two hours every day getting to and from, when you could do the work from a computer in your home, in comfortable clothes, with your comfortable furniture, with appealing and less expensive food and coffee nearby, with a fraction of the interruptions—well, that seems like a lot to ask people to give up, to sit in front of a computer far away.
Many of our jobs were already very disconnected from people. We just did them far away from home in a very inconvenient way.
You can see why people would prefer an extra couple hours in their day.
Maybe urging “office people” back for one day a week would be the best solution.
I agree with every sentence of this; and also, when I think about how many hours of my life I spent commuting, I never want to go back to the office.
Also important: I work for a union of state-employed professional employees, and it has proven infinitely harder to build solidarity among workers in the telework era. One of the keys to a strong union is is the conversation around the water cooler, or in the lunchroom or the hall: those conversations are now almost gone, and organizing has been incredibly difficult. By separating people, they can't as easily share stories about working conditions; just as important, they don't feel as connected to their coworkers. So in the last two years we've suddenly been sent into something of a tailspin as all our old strategies for organizing have been thrown out the window.
As someone who wants the option to remain working from home: there's plenty of ways to interact with others, and work, for many of us, is one of the poorest. Not commuting gives me more time (and for me "commuting" means "an hour alone in a car"). Half of my coworkers are in India either way, and my job contains no interaction with the public or clients. Do I miss playing boards games over lunch with my work buddies? Sure. But if I weigh that against having more time at home, being able to sleep in a little longer, and being able to complete some chores like laundry or baking something complicated while at work...it's not even a contest.
I want more activities to drop restrictions and go back to in-person so I can see people, but work? Eh.
I often stay in my apartment, but that has little to do with covid and a lot more to do with social anxiety, which I've struggled with my whole life. I've screwed up and misread countless social cues and very easily feel deep shame and embarrassment. I don't date because I'm scared of rejection.
Having said all that, I still don't want "Lockdowns Until Zero COVID." People need socialization, even if I myself struggle with it.
“I understand that I’m weird in wishing I had an option to not work from home.”
I don’t think that’s weird at all. A lot of people are beginning to feel like the walls are closing in on them.
As one myself, this strikes me as a deeply childless perspective. Parents already have other avenues for social interaction structurally created by caring for their children. These activities are also costly in terms of time spent, and getting back commuting time and gaining associated flexibility in organizing one's life are much more valuable and less costly from the social standpoint. Singles, 100% agree. Childless couples, I'm mostly on board. But this has been a godsend for the parents I know.