Not sure how to feel now that I'm going back to work

[Inflikted]

Well, looks like I'm going back to work on Monday. Not really sure how I feel. On one hand, I've gotten a bit stir crazy from being home for nearly two months. On the other hand, it doesn't seem like it's "safe" yet.

I guess one benefit I have is that I only work in an office with three other people, although we regularly have to go into a warehouse to throw out trash and grab supplies, so...

I thought my state has generally been handling stuff fairly well, but I'm nervous now because we're reopening stuff, and they're even looking to reopen in store dining at restaurants and bars in the next couple of weeks. Granted, I still don't plan on making an unnecessary trips out of the house, myself, but I don't trust everyone else around me who will probably just throw caution to the wind.

[d0nnivain]

In an office you should be OK.  Sit away from people if you can.  Wear a mask.  Wash your hands a LOT.  Just be sensible & you should be OK. 

[K.K.]

Oh wow you’re going back to work! 😮 

Well, I think it might do you some good to get out of the house. Does this mean you’ll get to see your friends soon too? Is everything opening back up where you are? 

Im happy for you!

Idle hands are the devils workshop don’t cha know. 😉 lolololol 

[Inflikted]

One thing that does make me kinda nervous, too, is that we have these big AC units (the long box looking things that are usually placed on the upper part of the walls, not sure what the technical term for them is) all over the office, and if they circulate air from the warehouse, as well, who knows what's getting pumped into us. No offense to the people in the warehouse, but most of them don't seem to give a **** about anything other than collecting their paycheck, so if we're getting pumped with air that dozens and dozens of lackadaisical warehouse workers have been breathing out, yeesh...

My dad got me a pack of about 5-10 of those face masks, I think from his work maybe, but I'm not sure how they really work, in terms of whether you can reuse them, whether you can safely clean them without lessening their effectiveness, etc. And considering masks aren't exactly super easy to come by these days, I don't really know how I'm going to be able to have a good mask every single day.

3 minutes ago, K.K. said:

Does this mean you’ll get to see your friends soon too? Is everything opening back up where you are?

They're supposedly trying to get a lot of stuff reopened in the next 2-3 weeks, yeah. I kinda feel like that's a big mistake, at least some of the extreme stuff (they're planning on getting bars, dine in restaurants, hair salons, etc. back open in the next couple weeks), but there's not much I can do about it, unfortunately, except stay away from that stuff, myself.

I don't know when I'll see my friends again, still. Much like myself, I think they prefer to be safe and responsible, and probably won't want to risk any of us exposing each other to anything that we might have picked up from work or wherever. And until we can somehow get the whole virus thing under control, I don't think it'll feel "safe" for any of us, so who knows how long that will take.

[bubbletea]

Uhh I wish I got to stay home even for a few days. But we’ve still been required to work. I work in a psych hospital with 50 patients per unit. They don’t give us more than a paper mask. We haven’t had hand sanitizer since this started. About 5 staff in the whole hospital tested positive but it hasn’t spread beyond that...that we know of...

Edited May 8, 2020 by bubbletea

[Inflikted]

So, I can't help but be a bit nervous, as we're technically "supposed" to be wearing masks, but my department is not. Granted, there's only four of us altogether, and it's not difficult keeping distance. But we still have to walk the same paths and stuff; like, if one of my coworkers has the virus and goes to use the copier, and then 20 minutes later, I need to go use the copier, can't I still breathe it in from her having been there previously? I don't know how all that stuff works, as far as how it hangs in the air or circulates, or whatever.

On the other hand, I haven't had a cold or flu type illness the entire time I've worked here (haven't had that type of illness in almost a year and a half), even during times when all three of my coworkers got each other sick. So, I dunno... Maybe I'll be okay?

[Happy Lemming]

32 minutes ago, Inflikted said:

So, I can't help but be a bit nervous, as we're technically "supposed" to be wearing masks, but my department is not.

What is stopping you from wearing a mask of your own choice??  Would your employer discipline you if your wore one??

If you are concerned about how others (in your department) will perceive you... who cares.

If you don't have access to a N95 mask, you can easily make a face covering from some old clothing.  Plenty of youtube video(s) and downloadable plans.  There are no-sew masks, hand sewn mask plans and sewing machine mask plans.  I saw one guy using an iron to fuse fabric from a re-usable grocery bag into a mask.  A hand made mask is better than none.

[S2B]

Wear one of your own. Better to keep yourself protected. Use hand sanitizer too when you are touching anything.

[Inflikted]

22 hours ago, Happy Lemming said:

What is stopping you from wearing a mask of your own choice??  Would your employer discipline you if your wore one??

 

22 hours ago, S2B said:

Wear one of your own. Better to keep yourself protected. Use hand sanitizer too when you are touching anything.

Eh, I'm starting to think it won't matter one way or the other whether I wear one or not, because as I've learned of my coworkers, they simply don't seem to care.

Not to discuss politics, as I don't care to argue about them, but my boss is a hardcore Trump fan, my one coworker's boyfriend is and she goes along with him, and my other coworker flip flops depending on the issue.

This morning, they were all agreeing and ranting about how all the lockdowns and restrictions are stupid and not right, how we need to open everything back up, how it's stupid and unfair to force people to wear masks.

My boss also ranted that this whole thing is just about making Trump look bad so they can dig the polls and get him out of office. Then all my coworkers started discussing (and agreeing with) a conspiracy about how Bill Gates made the coronavirus and set it out on the world so he can benefit from the whole thing.

I'm surrounded by people who not only don't care, but actively think the whole thing is stupid or some big joke. I can do what I can to protect myself at work, but honestly, if any of them get it, I don't know that it's going to make any difference whether I have any kind of makeshift mask or not, unfortunately. 😕

[Ruby Slippers]

^ Conservatives and those near the top of the pyramid generally complain the most about the situation, as they stand to lose the most.

My new boss (a VP) is one of these types. He's made it very clear the whole time we've been working from home that he can't wait for everybody to get back to the office. He's one of just a handful of people going to the office every day. Absolutely no one in our department has echoed his enthusiasm about getting back to the office.

Latest word is we're supposed to go back June 1. I'll do what I must and I'll make the best of it, but I'm dreading it. I've long felt the old-school office model is outdated. Many of us vastly prefer working from home and get a lot more done. Whether it's in this job or another, my next big goal relating to work is to work from home full time.

[FMW]

I work for a major corporation, everything is always done by the book and in a conservative manner.  Better safe than sorry pretty much always describes how we proceed with everything.   

Unless someone has a customer facing position (very few of those in the headquarters location I'm in), we are getting the message that we will be working from home for quite some time.  The nature of our business requires a lot of back office/behind the scenes work that can fairly easily be done from home. I do have a lot more phone conferences than when I was going to the office every day (I think in part because people are tired of isolation and come up with new issues to "discuss" with a larger group).  Fortunately I don't have to deal with video conferencing very often, that would definitely put a crimp in the yoga pants dress code I've been enjoying for 8 weeks.    

 

[Ruby Slippers]

Twitter is now letting anyone work from home forever if they're able to and they want to. I love seeing this. More companies offering the work from home perk means other companies will have to offer it as well or risk losing top talent.

[Inflikted]

I wish my job were doable from home, but unfortunately, it's not. v_v

I dunno, it just bothers me that the people I work with are so careless and actively against safety protocols. Just feels like, no matter how much I try to protect myself, it's not going to matter because they're all being stupid about it.