YOU ARE NOT ALONE - A companion online community discussion board for The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast with Paul Gilmartin

So, I got a request to go into NYC yesterday from a colleague who had a scheduling conflict, and immediately the anxiety kicked in....

What's this about?
Where is this place?
Should I take the train or bus?
What's the bus schedule?
What do I need to bring?
Who else will be there?
What do I need to know in advance?
Will I be on time?
etc....

Damn!

(I haven't gone into the city much for the last year, so it took some mental recalibration.)
Anyway, once I was in, there was really no problem, and the meeting went well.

The city is opening back up. Many people are still wearing masks, some aren't.
Walking back to the bus terminal, I saw a double-decker tour bus drive slowly past, filled with tourists up top!
I had a compulsion to run over and greet everyone, which I did, waving my arms over my head.

Made a couple of people laugh, and I laughed as well. Salesman thought I was crazy, but so what?
What a difference from the feelings in the am!

SnoringDog, I'm glad you made it back into the office, and that the meeting well.

I am supposed to be in the office, five days a week, starting next month. I am far too new, and like my employer too much to make WFH a deal-breaker. In other words, I wouldn't be thrilled to commute five days a week for the rest of my career, but I can tolerate that minus because of the many other substantial pluses.

Anecdotally, I'm hearing of highly-skilled employees already leaving employers who insist on a five-day commute. I have a good friend who is along in interviews.

My prediction: this summer the boomer managers will insist on working from the office (since they paid for these buildings), and bunch of talented people will reply: "Deuces".

I wouldn't be surprised if many of us are working three days a week in the office by the end of 2021. But not before the boomers lose their best employees, who can get readily get job offers that include 100% WFH.

We've been going into the office on an as-needed basis thru-out the pandemic. Unless your job is 100% computer based, sometimes you just need to get your hands on equipment to check or test.

(My car commute isn't far, but it's pretty stressful - like a bad video game I don't want to play every morning. )

And there's something to be said for face-to-face interactions on a fairly regular basis. Some things are handled much more efficiently, especially with the non-native-speaking coworkers.

They've been talking about 4 day work weeks for decades now. Wonder if that'll ever happen.
And I guess some managers may feel like they're not getting a full day's work unless someone is physically present....