Normality is Nice

I’m in my office today. It’s weird. Everything is so quiet. It’s nice to be back in familiar surroundings, but it all feels so different. We’re getting about two customers an hour!

I’m supposed to be working out rotas for the next couple of months, but how can I do that? We don’t know for sure how many staff we’ll need, or how many of them might need to be in isolation. We’ve already chopped the hell out of the workforce. No-one’s been permanently laid off, but a few have been furloughed, and a few others have been re-directed to work in the stores. Things have happened that I couldn’t possibly have imagined just a few months ago, but we’re getting on with it, and getting through it, and I’m very pleased and proud to say that the company I work for haven’t shit on any of my staff.

I like change, but I must admit I’m now missing some of the things that used to bore me. Regular conference calls, which I used to dread the way a lactose intolerant person would dread ice cream, are something I’m looking forward to returning, whenever it may be that they return. ‘Zoom’ video get-togethers, with everyone in their own kitchen, just aren’t the same as calls through the phones when we’re all sat at our desks in our bases.

Anyway – who am I to complain? I’m still working on full pay. I’m helping keep things moving along, in my own minimal, mostly-unimportant way. We get quite a few carers and community health staff using the garage, and it’s great to show them our support by having a chat and telling them they’re appreciated and occasionally giving them some free chocolate. (If Those Above Me complain about that, I’ll pay the bloody bill myself.)

I’m rambling now, and I need to tidy my shelves.

RC 6-4-20