Everyone get back to work!

I am writing this in April 2021 where vaccinations are going full steam ahead. Covid cases are on the rise again, but will probably not sustain that upward momentum for very long. The stock market has been doing very nicely and spring has sprung and people are really starting to get out again. I am seeing more people eating out and opening day happened in baseball and the stands were filled with thousands of fans. All good, right?

Not exactly, or at least according to my family and friends. People are really dreading the idea of going back to the office full time. Why could so many people be depressed when things are looking so good? Well, after a more than a year of working from home, we are all going to have to go back to the office soon and it is depressing the hell out of just about everyone I know. Google just announced that everyone needs to get back to the office pronto, dashing hopes that tech giants around the world would allow WFH forever.

I have been an office dweller for most of my adult life. Right out of college, I started writing code for an agency in the federal government in Washington D.C. way back when PC computers were a new fangled thing. I had a preview of work from home when I could dial up (via a modem) the school’s computer system to write my coding assignments, but didn’t fully realize it until many years later what was truly possible. I did the…