I received the COVID-19 ‘work from home’ email today. Which isn’t a big deal. My efforts toward supporting a WFH day every week have me already good to go. So something like 90% of my work is in the cloud already, and I am already good with staying home to work. I’ll start tomorrow, making this Day 0 of my pandemic life changes.
But.
I think it started when I was packing up the desk for the absence. I had the desktop computer ready to take home, my personal stuff off on the credenza to the side, and the desk wiped down. And it started. The vague feeling of nausea. The feeling in the first moments after I’m fired. It got worse at home. So, despite the work computer sitting on my table, despite knowing that I was still working, I really felt like I’d been fired. And no amount of rational thought helped. It makes me think about all the people impacted by stay-at-home orders, by the other in Illinois impacted by the forced closure of social spaces – bars, restaurants, and the like. How are they doing?
I also think others are experiencing the same feelings. We know we aren’t fired. We know that the checks are still coming. But damn, forcing everyone home is hard. Being forced to stay home is hard. I wonder what the long-term fallout will be, both in how we do work, and how much we trust those who control our lives. Perhaps my boss was right, the response to COVID-19 will change everything.
Whatever, it’s only Day 0, and I’m already not loving it. I’ll have more, and longer, posts as this develops. For now, this is what I have.
