{"id":2832,"date":"2024-08-22T21:50:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-23T04:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teahousehome.com\/booksandcoffee\/?p=2832"},"modified":"2024-08-22T08:45:51","modified_gmt":"2024-08-22T15:45:51","slug":"life-the-perils-of-return-to-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teahousehome.com\/booksandcoffee\/2024\/08\/22\/life-the-perils-of-return-to-office\/","title":{"rendered":"Life: The Perils of “Return to Office”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A
A repeating collage of my most recent negative COVID test results from fresh tests restocked last month. I’d swear the control lines used to be more vivid… But these are so reasonably priced!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My employer’s mandatory return-to-site policy has been in effect for several months. A pattern has emerged: every few weeks, the safety team’s email arrives, letting me know that I have been exposed during a likely contagious period to an unnamed work colleague who subsequently tested positive for COVID.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again. And again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Masks are freely available at work, which is nice. Test kits aren’t: now, you must fill out a form JUSTIFYING why you want one from a menu of specific types of exposure. This seems… counterproductive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I actively monitor myself, I keep fresh at-home tests stocked (at my own expense!), I pay attention to changes in how I feel. I maintain a supply of fresh Korean KF-94 masks (I like the fit), prettier Hong Kong masks (rated EN149 & FFP2; I like the designs and colors), and some even prettier Japanese fabric masks (because not every situation requires a highly rated mask, and Japanese fabric patterns are so hip). There are fresh masks sealed in containers in nearly every type of purse, bag, or backpack I carry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this is effort. And money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As another COVID wave rolls through the office, and we must navigate our obligations to keep others safe while not necessarily being safe ourselves, I marvel that this most recent office exposure (day zero) resulted in an authentic COVID headache (TM) and fatigue on day 4 – without a fever and without testing positive. My relief at the mildness of my condition arm-wrestles with the frustration that I must be exposed this way at all, and don’t know what to expect next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My interpretation of current official guidance is: if\/when I feel fine, it doesn’t really matter if I have COVID anyway (!?!), which seems like something written by COVID itself.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have jokey flashbacks to that scene from the Devil Wears Prada<\/em> about being ‘one stomach flu away from [my] goal weight,’ and joke that I feel ripped off: rather than returning to the office slimmer, or with fewer wrinkles, or with firmer abs as the result of my exposure, I’ll only return to the office with a higher risk of stroke<\/a> and other unwanted conditions. (Zero stars: I do not recommend COVID at all<\/em>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I write this as someone who likes going into the office three (or even four) days a week<\/strong>. There’s something about the flexibility<\/em> that hybrid work policies gave people to stay home when they felt a little off without needing to justify it <\/em>that was broadly beneficial. Those are just GOOD policies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My employer’s mandatory return-to-site policy has been in effect for several months. A pattern has emerged: every few weeks, the safety team’s email arrives, letting me know that I have been exposed during a likely contagious period to an unnamed work colleague who subsequently tested positive for COVID. Again. And again. Masks are freely available … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Life: The Perils of “Return to Office””<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[135],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-2832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life","tag-pandemic"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teahousehome.com\/booksandcoffee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teahousehome.com\/booksandcoffee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teahousehome.com\/booksandcoffee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teahousehome.com\/booksandcoffee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teahousehome.com\/booksandcoffee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2832"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/teahousehome.com\/booksandcoffee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2832\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2836,"href":"https:\/\/teahousehome.com\/booksandcoffee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2832\/revisions\/2836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teahousehome.com\/booksandcoffee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teahousehome.com\/booksandcoffee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teahousehome.com\/booksandcoffee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}