I prefer being different. And, until recently, I was fairly different, since I’ve worked from home for over a dozen solid years. Yet I’ve been joined, in a broad sense, by tens of millions of people who have been forced from their proper offices back into their houses. And, judging from the media out there, “working from home” is supposed to look like this………..
…….or, even more unsettling, like this:
I can assure you, at no time have I excitedly thrown papers in the air and thrust my victorious fists in the air.
My physical gestures tend to be flipping off my video monitors (when unhappy) or slightly wincing with my face (when I’m happy). Even the successful installation of a new printer driver wouldn’t compel me to behave like the woman shown above.
Not that I’m unhappy working from home. There is no place I’d rather be. I absolutely hated going into a “real” office. I mean, let’s face it, for the past 13 years:
- I haven’t attended a single meeting;
- I haven’t had a single mile of commuting;
- I haven’t had to respond to a boss’s email;
- I haven’t had to deal with any co-workers;
- I haven’t had to fill out a “360 degree” job review
Instead, I get to wake up at 5 in the morning, make my way downstairs with my trio of dogs, and enter my favorite place in the whole world, which is My Office:
So I’m a little surprised at myself, feeling a sense of “intrusion” that the whole home office thing has become the de facto choice for virtually the entire country. I’m looking forward to being a freak again.
