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What It Felt Like to Work in-Office During The Pandemic
No matter where you live in the United States, March 2020 means something to you. In Texas, this is the time that we were ordered to a statewide lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Schools shut down, workers went home, and social activities were put on hold indefinitely.
The only people who continued to work in person were “the essentials”; the people absolutely necessary to provide food, utilities, and medical care.
At least, that was the case in most places.
When Texas went into lockdown, I worked for an essential business, but I was not an essential worker. I was a marketer with no impact on the company’s ability to operate. So when the lockdown went into effect, I thought, “Surely our boss will encourage us to work from home.”
Instead, despite all expert recommendations, my boss preferred that we come into the office every day because:
- If we were in the office, it would be easier for him to “pop in” and pull someone out for an unscheduled meeting.
- He didn’t want to keep track of who was in the office and at home each day.
- Using video calls for meetings was less convenient than meeting in person.
