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Thread: Will you go back to your place of employment?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
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    Vancouver Canada
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    Will you go back to your place of employment?

    I’m semi retired, so aside from a few friends who regularly call on me for repairs, and my charitable work, an office or steady away from home workspace is not a concern. Many of you out there are working from home or are otherwise “stuck” there.
    It reminds me of the old “I married you for better or for worse, but not for retirement”.
    Even though I can escape to the workshop, being around the other 5 residents in the house is driving me a little nuts. I can’t even escape to the gym, and going for a solitary motorcycle ride without coffee with a friend at the end isn’t a pleasure.
    So, even though separate spaces are proving good at lowering risks, how much appetite is there out there for just getting away from the family and going to work?
    Young enough to remember doing it;
    Old enough to wish I could do it again.

  2. #2
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    Jan 2007
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    I went back two weeks ago after six weeks of using the dining room table as a desk. We temperature screen on arrival starting Monday, and have very solid protocols in place for PPE and distancing. Our EHS and HR teams are top notch. I'm not concerned about transmission.
    Sharp solves all manner of problems.

  3. #3
    I will do everything I can to not go back to work. I have my own shop more capable of any employer I have ever had and way more so than my current. Through this ordeal I have been able to work from home with zero down time. I will encourage that continue to be the case with my employer and so far he seems on board. From what I see I have no faith that others will conduct themself with the utmost caution as I can assure I do. Even those I think have previously had my trust have me questioning if they deserve it.

    I’m not the slightest lonely, I do notice increasingly people are at a breaking point and can’t handle lonely. Even neighbors that were cautious, still think their being cautious and through the window I can see them letting down their guards.

    I’m torn I somewhat feel bad for anyone suffering “generally” provided it’s not of their own making. But in the face of this were ones choices have a direct health effect on those around them Taking away their choice I tend to lack or rather completely lack sympathy for those whom can’t stand the isolation or lonely. Seems very weak to me and leaves me more disheartened than I already was by so many and what’s eels like moats complete lack of consideration for others. This specific experience makes me wonder how many people actually have endured real suffering in their lives as it seems so many are completely not prepared and incapable. Again not that I want people to have suffered greatly but you know it does build character if it doesn’t break you so. Seems to me many are ill equipped to suffer.

    I’ll do everything I can to find a way to make a living out of my own shop moving forward the best I can as to take the measures I see fit to keep myself and the ones I love safe the best I can. Not to mention my piece of mind as being out there constantly worried about where you have been what you been doing yada yada will drive me bonkers. For instance my co-workers are both heavily involved in the church and choir music, most all their friends and family also. One lives in a large city apartment building with a roommate whom traveled by plane on Mother’s Day to visit mom from the east to west coats. I call that just stupid and to not be concerned as the roommate well just about the same. Stuff like that will eat me up inside out. So I’ll stay home as long as I can and suspect this will forever change the way I am interested conducting myself. It’s taught me so much about people, so much I was was already pretty sure of. This has confirmed pretty much all my suspicions.

    Being vegan I already can do 100% without eating out. Baring work situations I had not eaten out in nearly 5-6 years and maybe on 20 occasion in 10-12 years. I suspect I’ll never go to a public eating place again. As it was I was fairly grossed out by any public eating place. After a bed bug experience when a grandparent was in hospice and dying I haven’t done movie theaters or hotels in about 7-8 years. So I’m pretty much settled into self isolation baring regular shopping, work and outdoor activities, my outdoor interest tend to take me away from crowds.

    This whole thing feels like a very normal evolution for me and my life. I understand I do not represent the masses.

  4. #4
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    Mar 2003
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    SE PA - Central Bucks County
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    I'm not personally in the situation of working for an employer anymore, but for the last 20 years prior to retirement I worked from home anyway when I was not traveling to a client location or attending a meeting or briefing at an employer facility. So being home all the time isn't a shock to me. Professor Dr. SWMBO has had to transition to teaching online and despite the fact that face to face with her grad students is sometimes more effective, it's working out very well. She's lost the long hour-twenty in each direction train commute and no longer has to pay the higher Philadelphia wage tax, either. And honestly, she's within a few years of retirement probably and with her Asthma and the added risk it adds, I'm glad she's at home when teaching...and I hope it stays that way for her work.

    Our older daughter, who is essentially a special needs adult because of her mental health disability, lives here and only works part time. So there's no change there. The biggest change during this pandemic is with our younger daughter who just completed here junior year at Penn State. Her classes were all online/remote video so she was not traveling to campus for several months now. Her employer is a restaurant so while she still has her back-of-house hours doing accounting, she has none of the front-of-house hours since it's all take out now. So she's home a lot more now, especially since her serious boyfriend is back in Pittsburgh where he has an apartment he's been paying for but not living in for while.

    Interestingly, rather than things being more cloying with us all at home most of the time, it's actually shown some benefit. Our younger daughter has been cooking with me now a couple of nights per week and it's been a great experience. She's a very independent young lady and often has been "more distanced" than is nice...the pandemic situation has actually brought her closer to all of us. So that's a positive outcome. As a family, we're "not social butterflies" anyway; don't follow sports; don't shop for the sake of just shopping; don't eat out a lot, etc., so it's not been a big deal, other than miles being driven has dropped significantly, especially for said younger daughter.

    Back to the original question...if I worked for an employer and had to do that work in a particular facility rather than home, my expectations for returning to that workplace would be that the employer is taking things seriously around social distancing, proper cleaning, etc.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Minneapolis, MN
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    I am required to go to my office if I want to keep my job. Right now I work three weeks at home and one week in the office. We have four who rotate weeks in the office. One of my co-workers has been in the office the past four weeks for a project so I haven't had to be in the office since early April. This week is my week.

    There is only one other person working on my floor and I have a private office so it isn't a huge deal to be at work. The ways things are set up I can walk to and from the restroom without touching any door handles. It would be a lot worse if I was in our main office a mile and a half away. That building has open offices with small cubicles with low walls. Less than six people out of five hundred are working at main office right now. My employer plans to bring people back in phases starting no earlier than September. It is likely that a fair number will be able to work from home long term possibly coming to the office occasionally. Those who have medical issues or are concerned about their safety can work from home until this pandemic is considered over.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
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    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
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    I decided I didn't want to be an employee in 1974.

    edited to add: I've been working by myself since the first of February, because my helper's Spouse works at a prison, and I've gotten to the point where I actually like working by myself. I may continue on like this.
    Last edited by Tom M King; 05-17-2020 at 12:55 PM.

  7. #7
    I've been mostly work from home the last three years, and now 100% since this all started.
    Our company has some employees where the job requires they be on site and they are receiving additional hazard pay.
    Those of us working at home have been told we will continue until at least June 30th, and then they'll reevaluate.
    If I never see the inside of an office again I won't mind at all, but that's been my thinking for years.

    I think a lot of companies are realizing that for many jobs, having people together in an office is completely unnecessary. Personally, I'm much more productive at home.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nathan Johnson View Post
    Personally, I'm much more productive at home.
    I found that to be true, too, Nathan, over all those years I worked from home when not traveling. Even with hourly "birdie head scratches" (parrot) I got more done in less time and could do the tasks during the part of the day that best suited them. Creative things were in the afternoon, for example, and most of the time mornings were for the mundane while my brain wasn't quite as sharp. Of course, there were times when too many hours happened, too...

    I do think that one "benefit" of this terrible situation is that many employers will look at remote workers more seriously without some of the easy prejudices that folks struggled with. When I was working, a good chunk of my solution set was stuff that actually enabled remote workers to have the same communication/interaction capabilities as they did face-to-face, at least from a functional standpoint. Some organizations were pretty gung ho, but others....just couldn't get over not being able to constantly look over peoples' shoulders and those people were highly paid "managers" that should have been able to be very productive with self-sufficiently. It's a matter of trust.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Tom M King View Post
    I decided I didn't want to be an employee in 1974.
    Sounds familiar
    I'm 2 months from 66 years old, and in all that time only 2 years of my life were NOT spent almost daily with family: the 2nd half of 1972 (year I graduated HS) and first half of 1974, which is when I started coming to work part time, here in this same house, for my parents. Part time money here was double my full-time money renting cars at the time. Dad was asked if he could engrave computer keycaps followed by all hell breaking loose. Since early '76 this at-home engraving business has been my only source of income. And this was a family affair back then, my 2 sisters, their husbands and a couple of cousins worked here at various times. We went thru a few rough times, the worst was '08-09'; my parents were in failing health, so the wife and I moved in permanently to care for them, add to that hardly any work coming in meant my sister/accountant of 11 years, had to go. My other sister's now ex-husband has been here daily for 39 years now. The wife and I are now 11 years into our 24/7 marriage. We're nearing our 29th anniversary, and we have never had an actual fight. Neither of us has ever 'needed our own space'. And all the years of daily interaction with the parents and other family members has only resulted in 1 actual argument, long in the past. In 46 years of working with family and 28+ years of marriage, there's never been any eggshells to avoid walking on. Biz is down a bit but most of the work not coming in is work I don't miss --I feel very fortunate that I have very little on my plate to worry about during this virus pandemonium-demic, aside from actually getting it. That, I AM worried about. As they say, I'm too old for this ____!
    ========================================
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  10. #10
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Toronto Ontario
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    11,236
    Hi Aaron, I’ve been working from home for 8 weeks and according to our president, productivity is higher than when we were at the office.

    My company is in no hurry to bring us back until there’s a clear plan in place.

    This may partly be the new world.

    I’ve been going for motorcycle rides, sometimes with a friend, we stop for takeout coffee, sitting on our bikes, a few metres apart...Rod

  11. #11
    Join Date
    May 2018
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    Lancaster, Ohio
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    What bike?
    Quit riding 5 years ago. Became quite apparent I could ride a motorcycle or I could work. My body said I can't do both anymore.
    thanks
    Ron

    Quote Originally Posted by Rod Sheridan View Post
    Hi Aaron, I’ve been working from home for 8 weeks and according to our president, productivity is higher than when we were at the office.

    My company is in no hurry to bring us back until there’s a clear plan in place.

    This may partly be the new world.

    I’ve been going for motorcycle rides, sometimes with a friend, we stop for takeout coffee, sitting on our bikes, a few metres apart...Rod

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Toronto Ontario
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    11,236
    Quote Originally Posted by Ron Selzer View Post
    What bike?
    Quit riding 5 years ago. Became quite apparent I could ride a motorcycle or I could work. My body said I can't do both anymore.
    thanks
    Ron
    Hi Ron, in order of age

    1930 500cc James with acetylene lighting

    1975 Norton Commando, 850cc, original owner

    1976 BMW R90/6

    2013 BMW F700GS, that’s the daily rider...Rod

  13. #13
    Join Date
    May 2018
    Location
    Lancaster, Ohio
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    1,346
    Rode a Norton Commando 850 way back in the day when it was a new bike, owner was a brother in law at the time. Nice bike as I was partial to twins back then. He also had a KZ1000 with turbo added, one screaming bike. Bought a well used 95 K75RT while recovering from last magor bike down. Bought while waiting on Ins company to settle on my bike and Doc to release me. This bike ended up being my all time favorite. Rode the K75RT for months in the summer and never got in my pickup at all. Bought a 2006? R1200CL had a Vetter Terraplane mounted to it after settling with Ins co. Sold this one due to divorce, then got a Yamaha 1985 Venture Royale a few years later, still preferred the K75RT for everyday riding. When kids were young had a 82 Yamaha XJ1100J with 84 Watsonian Oxford Sidecar I mounted on it. More bikes thru the years before and after. Would like to be riding still, at least have a little VW Cabrio convertible to enjoy the good weather with now.
    Rod keep riding as long as you can, good weather to you
    Ron

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Central MA
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    1,583
    Many of us never stopped going to work every day, so that everyone else could stay at home.

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by John Lanciani View Post
    Many of us never stopped going to work every day, so that everyone else could stay at home.
    Thank you for what you do, John!
    "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

    “If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”

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