Not only is my office still in lockdown, with employees required to work from home, but we'll soon move to a new building. By early fall, we'll have the option of returning to the office, but it won't be
this office. Which is why I went down to Crystal City this morning to pack up my chair, standing desk, notebooks and files — and bring them home.
It was a big job that my becoming sentimental made even bigger. I couldn't stop thinking of all the colleagues who once peopled this place. Though I still work with them, we are now squares on a screen or voices on the phone. There is no more banter in the kitchen, no more planking in the hall.
I'll admit that working at home is wonderful, but I miss the camaraderie and the stimulation. I miss the life I used to have. Which is why I spent some time today running around with my phone taking pictures of the place. Here's where we held potlucks. There's where we started planning the speech it would take me a month to write.
It may sound silly, it took time I didn't have. But I spent the better part of four years in this place. Surely it's worth one last look.
