In the past few months I have seen innumerable social media posts about people dreading to physically go back to work, about how working in a pajama and unkempt hair is so much more comfortable than having to get ready early in the morning and getting out in public.
I do not disagree that there are quite a few benefits of working from home, for example, one could finish work at 5 PM and grab a glass of wine at 5:02 or even catch a quick nap during lunch hours. However, me, being in a travel industry, working from home was rather uneventful. The world went into a travel halt for nearly 2 years. Towards the beginning, things were quite busy, everyone wanted to cancel their programs. Days flew by designing exceptional circumstance policies for cancellations, rescheduling and refunding. Then everything went quiet. From spending all day in front of the computer it went to just once in few days and then suddenly a complete void.
Until it wasn’t quiet anymore…
Unlike popular belief, I rather enjoyed the rush this morning, getting ready in a haste, the touch of cold wind on my face. I actually felt like a little child excited to go to the playground. I loved the beep of my key card tapping at the door, I enjoyed lights turn on the lobby as I walked past and I was thrilled to see people sitting in their rooms, in the cubicles, in the lounge.
What a beautifully normal day it was.. today, the first day back to work!