Monday, October 04, 2021

Let's Talk Teleworking Again

Hi, remember when I did a whole series on teleworking? Fun times. I'm going to try not to repeat any of that. 
But my current position has me talking on the phone a lot. I had to sign a thing that said I had a dedicated space that was quiet and away from pets and kids. I signed it. 
Technically my cat is not cordoned off from my desk, but she generally naps during much of the workday, and even ay her loudest meow is not going to make phone calls impossible. 
But of course, let's talk through the privilege implied in this work request. Having a dedicated space, which sure, could just be a little lap desk, but depending on the size and population of your housing, can be a challenge. 
I can turn off and keep off things like TVs, music, and such that people talking to me me won't be distracted by that noise. 
I cannot control my neighbor's alarm, a delivery truck backing up outside, or any construction that might occur. I have a headset to minimize external noise, but I've tested it, it picks up things like sawing across the way. 
I talked to someone who did the, I'm not mad about you, but some of your coworkers, I can hear kids and TVs. And here's the thing. It is still a pandemic. This project I'm on started in April. Some folks were unemployed before then. They have kids who were schooling from home, or off for the summer. People who had dogs or other pets, may have had them before the pandemic and now their pet wants to know why the human talks to the box and not them. 
There may be other employed adults in their living space taking their own work calls. 
Assuming that amid a pandemic and a not unrelated economic crisis that people have the resources to move or work from a closet for eight hours, it just isn't realistic. 
I'm a big proponent that not every job is for every person, but I'm sorry the news keeps telling you there are jobs for the taking. Some people have to work from home right now due to kids, family members they care for, or being high risk for COVID. So we are all going to have to allow for a little more disruption for a bit.