So I have to admit that I am loving being in quarantine with my family.
I appreciate a big part of that is that I’ve been impacted far less than many.
I fortunately continue to have a job and where we live has a small backyard for Otis to play in. I also know that with no elderly family members around, the worry and fears are limited to just our situation which is why, even though I would rather no one had suffered through this time, this period has been a revelation for me.
There’s many reasons for that. I am saving two and a half hours a day on commuting … so I’m get an hour a days more sleep. I get to be here and see Otis when he wakes up and goes to bed every night. And dinner time is now family dinner time … every single day.
All those things are wonderful based on the fact I just love being with my family.
We’ve never spent so much time together in our lives and I have to say, it’s great.
Yes, we would love to go out and see friends, but in terms of sacrifice, it has actually had some upside – though I would never want anyone to have had to pay the price they’ve had, to experience this.
The main reason this has been so impactful to me is that I was previously of the opinion being in the office every day was important.
Not ‘to be seen’ by management, but because as a boss … I felt it was important to spend time with your gang and be there when/if they need you. I still feel that, but now realise I can spend one day a week at home and it won’t do any damage … even more so when I assume many of the team will want to do the same.
That said, working from home has revealed some interesting situations.
As I wrote a while back, Otis’ naked bum dance to a very important member of the NIKE global management was an interesting one. While he has fortunately not done a repeat performance, he has revealed what he really thinks of me.
Just recently, this was our interaction while his Mum had popped out to buy some groceries …
As burns go, that’s pretty awesome … though as my colleagues gleefully told me when I told this story to them, “He’s not wrong”.
Assholes.