Reentry
Who would have thought about it? Not even in our wildest imaginations. A world pandemic, bringing everyone and everything to an abrupt halt. Confusion, fear ensued.
Work places had to implement their emergency plans, and homeworking, which many thought of as a fiction book, was to be the new normal.
We quickly dabbed in and learned Zoom calls, virtual meetings, both internally and with clients. This went on for weeks, then months.
Around Summer 2020, when local Covid positive cases dropped considerably, my workplace started to introduce staff roster, so that someone will be always physically present back at the office.
My turn came, and I faced it with mixed emotions. Hesitating to venture outside, meeting people in person, but on the other hand I was kind of looking forward to have some previous routine back in my life, which had become quite lonely. Although I communicated regularly with colleagues via chat and calls, it wasn`t the same thing as meeting daily at the office. Confined at home, the ambience was the same, daily, and there wasn`t that detachment from work, as home was also transformed to an improvised office.
It was a lovely morning, I watched sunrise in awe while sipping coffee. Those orange rays were lazily penetrating through my coffee`s plume of steam. It was time. Time to go back to the office, again, after all those months of uncertainty. I had checked the day before with colleagues who had already had their day at the office, and they told me that it wasn`t as before, everything has changed, with fewer staff and a strange atmosphere. So, by now, I was definitely curious.
I arrived at the building on time, there wasn`t too much traffic, maybe the majority were still homeworking, or following a roster like us. The security guard didn`t recognise me at first. These days with masks, it`s trickier to make out a human face, even a familiar one. You have to quickly raise an eyebrow, widen your eyes or raise your hand to say hi, just in time before it is too late to do so. We used to smile and say hi, but our mouths have been covered and our voices muffled.
We had a small chat, he took my temperature and guided me to the sanitiser, then I proceeded on my own. The foyer, usually buzzing with clients, waiting, flipping through books and magazines that we leave on purpose around on coffee tables, while the receptionist would go around to see if anyone wanted water or coffee, that very foyer, was all but empty. Not a noise. It seemed like a showroom, a display of furniture, carpets and a black screen tv. At least the plants were still alive. Must have been the security guard, I thought, surely he watered them. The elevator doors slowly closed the scene in front of me, taking it away, like the theatre`s big curtain when it descends slowly, to mark the end of a drama.
Finally there I was, inches away from the main door which gives access to the office, a big hall segmented in clusters, each containing a desk, a chair and a pc. I slid my card through the lock, which emanated the usual familiar beeping sound, and the door was open. I was in, back inside, after all those months away, solitary confined working from home.
The office was surreal to say the least. Colleagues had advised me what to expect, but when you are there in person, it`s totally different, it hits you squarely in the face, you get absorbed in the moment. The hall was so empty it echoed, and the majority of the clusters and desks were empty. Heck, there were more cleaners present with aprons, gloves and visors, than colleagues. A couple greeted me, I think they noticed my surprised face. At the time I wasn`t aware, but later a colleague told me that I stood still at the entrance for few seconds.
Once settled, I went back to my desk, only to be told that they had to wipe the chair first, so I waited. Although I was ready early that day, I still managed to log in my pc later than usual, unaware of how time escaped me. I didn`t realise that all this anticipation for my reentry, and the shock of the first minutes taking in the atmosphere of what has become an eerie building, would slow down my daily routine.
The rest of my first day back in the office was strange, homeworking colleagues would call in to obtain scanned copies from clients` files, which were obviously still locked in the book room, while I provided the requested documents via email. I would be busy attending a Zoom call and forget for a minute that I was almost alone in the office, just a few of us. The sound of bubbles from a nearby water dispenser startled me, such was the silence in the hall. It was quite an experience, and it made you realise how hard the world has been impacted, daily life routines as we knew them, disrupted. I wondered if we will ever be back, all together in the office again, like before.
Almost a year has passed from my reentry, we got accustomed to the roster. For our employer, it`s here to stay, at least for the time being. We embraced the situation, facing the challenge, after all being flexible, switching venues is ideal. Working both from home and at the office is better for a number of things. Setting an alarm, freshen up, changing, commuting, meeting a couple of colleagues every now and then, keeps you sane. Reentry was much needed.
From experience now, I can safely say that to work from just one place, for a prolonged period of time, is not healthy, not even at your own home.
