Working Remotely through the Coronapocalypse
One Concept I Never Thought I’d Face as an Introvert
Throughout the history of time we can look to some of the greatest battles. The Persians vs. the Spartans, the Bolsheviks vs. the Mensheviks, my attempt to ward off crows feet vs. father time. Ne’er was there a greater struggle seen than in the latter.
Of course, by now, you realize I’m going to bring up everyone’s favorite (and pretty much only) topic of discussion as of late — the battle on the coronavirus.
Now that it’s swept through Europe like wildfire and has washed up on our shores in America, many have buckled down (thankfully) and stayed at home, away from others. My workplace in fact sent us all on our merry way on March 11 and told us, “no in-office for you, come back 1 month.”
We whined and grumbled and packed up our laptops, other work gear, and anyone’s plants that had been left behind. Several days later, I learned one coworker had come in 3 degrees worth of separation from a COVID-19 positive person. But, that’s relatively distant, surely not to worry. A couple days later, another friend from work came down with the fever and chills. Okay, that’s not great, but what’s done is done and I sit about five feet away from him. And then today, the piece de resistance arrived in the form of this message.
“This morning, [redacted] was notified that an employee of a touring company has tested positive for COVID-19. The tour took place on Monday, March 9th and at the time this person was asymptomatic. The members of our team that were present during that tour are not experiencing any symptoms and are self quarantined for the recommended 14 days. Today, we will be performing a deep clean of the 24th and 31st floor and will be fully operational on Monday, March 16th.”
Okay, I give up. On top of mandatory work-from-home, and now this news, in the face of the fact that every bar, restaurant, and scheduled event has been closed or canceled, it’s time to enter an extreme state of social distance.
For the record, though it pains me, I am very pro-quarantine and pro-social distancing. Based on the horrific display of people who went galavanting through Southie in Boston on Saturday in pursuit of fulfilling St. Patrick’s Day dreams (because you know, there may never be another one), I wish more than a few other people felt similarly to me.
I have an 85-year old landlord who gets the flu once a month every winter. She is at risk and also refuses to close the shop below our apartments. As ‘ole Angie says, “who gives a shit, just put some hand sanitizer on it.” As much as I think she is adorable and as much as I appreciate her candor, I’m not sure salty candor is going to be able to stave off the virus that will probably be passed on to her from one of her (probably) selfish, inconsiderate customers. Of course, beyond the elderly, there are younger people with compromised immune systems. A person with a compromised immune system doesn’t look like a person with a broken leg. There’s no cast that you can see, so don’t assume you know the level of someone’s health.
Do I think we need to keep ourselves in check? Of course. There’s a difference between reasonable actions and insanity. Social distancing is being considerate of those around you, buying out a grocery store’s worth of canned goods is insanity.
But this all leads me to my final conundrum — working from home for a month.
I am an introvert. So what does that mean for me? As it’s been said many times before by many others, I like being alone and having quiet time to charge my batteries; I’m not anti-social. I have friends, I like going out to concerts, and parties, and bars, I like going to work and communicating with my colleagues in person. I also really love living alone. And I do. I live alone and never thought that my empty apartment might become a place that I spend the majority of my day and night alone, save the moments when I go outside for the recommended brief respite.
My company and superiors have been very good about encouraging us to take moments to speak with people on video conference, make a phone call, or take a quick lap around the block. I know that I can always call or FaceTime my friends and family. Technology has thankfully been a barrier-crusher in terms of communication.
But a video conference isn’t the same as having a person sitting across the table from me and a phone call isn’t like grabbing a beer with a friend. I may be able to look at someone’s face as we speak, but at the same time, that isn’t the same thing as an in-person human connection. It’s a talking head who I can exchange a few quips with.
I’ve always loved living alone. I value my privacy, my ability to do whatever I want whenever I want, and like knowing there’s a sanctuary to escape to after a long and fun night of being out with people. However, for the first time, in the face of corona, this introvert is worrying that she may feel something she’s not yet encountered much in life, loneliness.
