Un dia a la vez

One day at a time. Erlyn said this today from Buenos Aires as Argentina confronts another wave of Covid and re-introduces some restrictions.

In Cambridge messages are now circulating about the office starting to reopen gradually to people who would benefit from coming in. Thank. The. Lord.

I have been one of a tiny handful to have had occasional access as I argued I have no home workspace whilst in limbo, and no one could deny this. However the office has been deserted so it hasn’t provided what I am craving, which is face to face contact with colleagues. And there is a large number of colleagues who want some access to maximise their productivity and wellbeing.

A workmate described the communications around our office reopening as ‘byzantine’, which was very accurate (as well as being a splendid word). Even though there’s a stated will to support staff wellbeing and a 20% occupancy allowed for the wider building, there is a level of strictness that effectively restricts people accessing the office if they’d like to, even under the cap. As my workmate said, ‘it's a way of not directly restricting you but making things so byzantine that you don't bother.’ It feels like a combination of a political entity and a corporate behemoth, both of which render the individual voiceless. I feel like becoming a union rep.