[stank345]

Getting back to working from the office last week has done wonders for my mental health. I went from being locked up for a year WFH with my wife and kids in a small row home working out of my goddamn basement to actually being able to concentrate in a beautiful, still-mostly-dead office with a view. There's an exercise room on my floor that no one uses so it's basically my private gym. I can chat a bit with the few coworkers who are in the office regularly. It's been amazing. I feel like an actual adult human again instead of a parent/employee trying to hold on to various threads to keep everything from becoming undone.

[voakbasda]

I have had the exact opposite reaction. I work remotely and have for almost 30 years. I live deep in the forest with no neighbors for interaction. I love it.

This week was my first trip to town for errands where I was not mandated to wear a mask. In less than a week, social distancing has become a thing of the past. Life looks completely normal again, and I hate everything about it.

I still wear my mask and keep my distance, but I got the distinct impression that this will not be tolerated by the majority for much longer. When most people stop doing something that was “normal”, it is longer viewed as normal; our abrupt population-wide shift seems to emphasize this perceived deviance in the eyes of many. Consequently, I felt even more like an outsider than usual, even though there were a handful of others wearing masks.

Even before the pandemic, I needed the extra bubble of space. I actively avoided crowds. The pandemic created a world that I enjoyed greatly, and I feel a tragic loss that it is now past and may never be seen again.

You may feel liberated and whole again, but I feel like I am back to living in Hell. I face existential dread at the very prospect of going to town. One man’s pleasure is another man’s poison.

[fartcannon]

My experience with offices is literally the exact opposite. They're like high school full of corporate nonsense, cheerleading and other childish behaviours.

My work from home life, with my beautiful wife and child at arms reach, is a miracle.

[stank345]

Yeah, my office isn't really like that. It's quite quiet (more so than I would like if I'm being honest). The culture is engineering-biased and not bro-y. It's also a B Corp, so for profit but with a mission. I think that helps create a positive work environment since coworkers self-select as people who want to have a positive social/civic/environmental impact and generally are thoughtful and respectful people.

Honestly, for me I think I just need to move my body through space and talk to people to be happy. I'm probably more gregarious than your average developer, but definitely still an introvert and talking to people all day would be exhausting. Still, I need some social interaction. I feel like WFH was in some sense easier (could sleep in later, for example) but I just felt like I was withering away. I was craving some sort of variety, some stimulation, seeing different things and people. Being surprised by things! I missed all of that. Video calls are a poor facsimile of human interaction and the whole pandemic period felt dehumanizing.

[fartcannon]

Sounds nice.

Video calls are as pointless as the requirement for face time. If your team members require constant vigilance to be effective, you need to get a new team. If your manager requires face time, your manager needs to reconsider what their purpose is.