Working from home is only one of the great obstacles for many during this time, but not for me. In fact, I have been working from home for the last 15 years.
As a freelance writer, it’s all about keeping your overhead low, so the best place to work is the place I already pay to eat and sleep in. But now that I am working for Sudbury.com (Yay, me! Yay, Sudbury.com!) I am now working out of an office everyday.
I do not know who is paying a greater price, me, or my co-workers.
First, it is helpful to know that I have the personality of a golden retriever. Everything I hear is the best thing ever, and if it isn’t, I’ll help you find the sunny side, even if I have to force you to look at it.
A positive attitude won’t solve every problem, but it annoys people enough that it makes it worth my while.
A newsroom is a very busy place, with talking and laughing, stories being shouted out and reactions aplenty.
Except when it isn’t. There are times when my fellow reporters and I are working quietly and the only sound you hear is the symphony of clicking keyboards. That, and every sound I make.
I’m sure everyone else also makes sounds, but I have never been so aware of my own before.
At home, I could grab a snack, eat chips at my desk with my mouth open, even adjust my bra should the need arise. Not here.
Except I did adjust my bra, without thinking. Got a few puzzled faces before laughter.
My stomach makes so much noise! Did it always make this much noise? Have I always chewed as though several beavers were dam-building between my jaws?
And my chair. We have a beautiful, fresh new office, with gorgeous furniture. But my poor chair. Everytime I sit down, my chair passive-aggressively announces my weight to the whole office, and certainly its displeasure with its lot in life.
Now, we speak of the key. The key to pee. This is important as I consider myself to be “we just passed a bathroom so maybe I’ll just try” years-old.
We have a lovely bathroom to use for our floor, but as we share with our neighbours there is a key. I will now take you through my thought process over the last few weeks at work.
Do I pee a lot?
Does everyone pee this much?
Have they noticed that I pee this much?
Am I sick? Is there something wrong with me or just the sheer amount of caffeine I send through my system?
Shut up, Chair, I had to pee!
Of course, there are some amazing bits. Not only do I get to work with fabulous people who are exceptionally good at their jobs, but people who think wordplay is hilarious and who tell my favourite thing, great stories.
Essentially, every joke I’ve ever made that falls flat in the outside world, lands with aplomb in the newsroom. Heck, even the word ‘aplomb’ lands well.
I love talking to the tops of their heads. (We have cubicles and I am very short.) I love trying to get my editors attention by looking at him until he looks at me, then smiling brightly.
He always appears more than a little scared when I get his attention. Smiles, but with a little fear at the edges. I have that effect.
It’s tough wearing masks, but I don’t suffer anywhere near as much as some places, so I can get used to it. I do enjoy being ‘essential’ for once, and I repeat my new designation to my husband often.
Speaking of my husband, the conversations we’ve had recently!
He works from home, we both have for years, and not only had we run out of things to say to each other years ago, but we didn’t even have co-workers to pick up the slack. Now I can tell a joke, he doesn’t laugh and I say “You had to be there,” because there is a there that isn’t here, in the house!
I am sure the novelty will wear off, I am sure that I will begin to resent my co-workers and hate packing a lunch, picking out what to wear and, well, leaving the house. But right now, not so much.
Golden retrievers are always excited to go on an adventure.
Jenny Lamothe is a reporter at Sudbury.com. She covers the Black, Indigenous, immigrant and Francophone communities, as well as issues in the downtown core.
