The first day back to office started with a hectic morning. Woken up by the 8 am alarm, as I stayed late till the wee hour the night before, I got up, a bit lethargic, and went down to the kitchen . Putting a small pot of oatmeal over the stove, I hurried back upstairs to wash myself, knowing that the oatmeal could overflow in any minute. Downstairs again, I began packing what I was about to bring to the office-- a water cup, a water pitcher, a cell phone charger, an earphone, a magazine, some snacks, my lunch box packed with a stainless- steel spoon and fork…
The office is only ten minutes local drive away, and by the time I got to the office, it was almost 9. The parking lot was additionally parked with a few trucks with workers trimming the trees. The road surface looks repaved, permeating the air with the lingering asphalt. Entering the building with two masks on, I saw a new welcome-back poster next to a sanitary station.
Like a chicken set free on a wild range happily roaming and laying eggs, then being called back by the owner to the chicken coop, I succumb to going back to the office after a year-long working from home. My cell phone, so used to Wi-fi, was confusedly lost for the first few minutes, scrambling for mobile signals laboriously. While pandemic limits our freedom, it did give me an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to stay at home and work. Though coming back to work at office is still partial, Tuesday and Thursday for now, I know the good time is over.
I miss the lazy morning and its leisureness without rushing to change or dress up. I miss the nap in the comfy bed. I miss the twenty minutes ping-pong time, playing, cheering and sweating. I miss my garden as I walk and tend to the plants, moving the pot from one side to the other for the best sun. I even miss the lizards who find our backyard home, boldly basking themselves almost every day around the same time in the same open spot…
People say that pandemic is disruptive in speeding up the digitalization and changing people’s behavior and mindset. Now with the vaccines fully rolled out, it is widely expected that things will soon go back to normal, or be forced to be so. But will it be that easy? How far can we go back?
Admittedly my day in office is more productive. But working with masks on for about eight hours suffocated me. For a time, my brain worked slower, as if also veiled by masks. Luckily I can work from home tomorrow alternatively, a new hybrid working mode, which won’t last for long before we are asked to return to the office completely.
回复 '7grizzly' 的评论 : Hi, my friend. Right, but weekends sometimes are occupied by something else, and pingpong is played more regularly on weekdays:))
I like the cotton-made mask better, as it is more comfortable and not smelly after wearing for hours. But it might not sufficiently filter out the virus, I guess, and that is the necessity of an add-on:)
Looking back, we will definitely be nostalgic of what the two-year-long pandemic unexpectedly brought us, though disastrous it is. I even thought of finding a job that can let me work at home permanently :)
Thanks, my friend, for your reading and comment. Have a great weekend!
7grizzly 发表评论于
Two days on-site can add some variety. You will still have five days out of a
week to play pingpong. Two masks sound unbearable, however.
As human activities resume, there will be more striving and less time for
reflection. Years from now, I might look back on the two years of covid with
nostalgia.
回复 'cng' 的评论 : C学者好! 有一阵不见，问候你! 谢谢你推荐的这篇文章，C学者平时的阅读量一定很大。我刚刚找来这篇两天前的文章，写得有点意思。 Maybe that's the reason I did not expose my lower face in the picture:) 口罩后面的下半截脸或许被硫酸泼过，或是兔唇嘴也不一定，哈哈:). Honestly, we are not ready to unmask, or go back to work in the office. I heard over the radio today that there are 933 breakthrough covid-19 cases amid 3.3m vaccinated residents in LA county. As of May 7, 71 have been hospi talized, and 12 have died. 虽然比例很小，但是谁知道接下来的数字会怎样。
我第一张照片是一楼入口处，第二张是大楼旁边的cafeteria,所以显得比较空旷。来上班的二楼员工还不少，虽然大家rotate来上班，以保持间距，但是毕竟是封闭式的办公楼，还是有风险的。
谢谢C学者临帖，祝健康平安!
cng 发表评论于
不过大楼这么空旷，口罩不戴也罢。
cng 发表评论于
赞！ 赠暖冬一句大西洋月刊一篇口罩文的开篇辞：
In Rob Reiner’s 1987 cult comedy, The Princess Bride, Fezzik asks the mysterious man in black a question as they scuffle atop the Cliffs of Insanity: “Why do you wear a mask? Were you burned by acid or something like that?” “Oh no,” replies the masked stranger, secretly a humble stable boy. “It’s just that they’re terribly comfortable. I think everyone will be wearing them in the future.”
回复 '魏薇' 的评论 : Thanks, 魏薇，for your kind words. I think I happened to buy some pea powder from a supermarkt, and don't know How to cook it (thinking of making cakes out of it.) Thanks for your Great idea and I will definitely Try it soon. Sometimes We are Not offered with many choices, and what We can do is make full use of scarcity. I am in the office now, and typing in English with the cell phone is slow and error-prone. I will just stop here, and many Thanks to you, my friend. I greatly appreciate your kindness! 对不起，魏薇，这支手机敲英文很不好用，我不多写了，多谢你的惠顾，理解，建议和美言。祝你和儿子夏安!
I fully understood you. I talked about this topic with my friend 2 months ago. It will be a challenge for a lot of people, especially for people with young kids. It will take time to go back to previous normalcy, current un-normalcy( a word I created: ).
I would like to recommend a fast and healthy breakfast food: pea protein powder. I got it from Trader Joe’s and had it yesterday. It tasted very similar to soy bean powder. What you need to do is having boiling water poured into the powder. I bought the plain, unsweet version. I added a little bit sugar, the favor made me think rich soybean milk, very good!
I didn't expect you wearing glasses. Eyes are windows to heart, from your beautiful black eyes I saw part of your trait: persistent, kind, strong,dedicated ...祝好暖冬
回复 '思韵如蓝' 的评论 : 思韵妹妹，you made my day! 你这么夸我，我飘飘然了。其实自己的斤两自己最清楚啊，哪里有你说得这么好啊，戴口罩不算的。我最致命的是矮啊，不像思韵妹妹那么高挑颀长，所以我妈说还好没有去的。其实父母都不矮，不知道这好的基因到我身上就不work了。思韵妹妹的基因好，所以大宝才有才上高中就很高个了，更不说其他才情了。我妈头发早早就白了，所以我也是很早白的，现在不染，整个一片都是白的。思韵妹妹要染就染吧，确实能看上去年轻些。
还是在家上班比较安全，其实如果没有这个病毒，我也不介意回去上班。但是现在警报并没有解除的，这都急吼吼地全面开放了。但愿你们能一直在家上班。谢谢思韵妹妹的甜言蜜语，我照单全收了。顺祝大宝高中学业进步，大小宝前程似锦!
看到水灵灵大眼睛的暖冬妹妹了，好高兴啊！暖冬一盒酸奶，一个西红柿，半个洋葱，两个牛油果，几个新鲜杏子的午餐，好健康啊！妹妹身材当然苗条了！虽然戴两口罩上班还是坚持要戴啊，实在闷，就戴一个医用口罩。可以回公司上班是幸运的，这里石油不景气，很多大公司裁人无数，德州因Pademic 失业福利金下个月就停发了。。
Texas opting out of federal pandemic unemployment benefits effective June 26
This includes the $300 weekly unemployment check from federal officials
