I was pleasantly surprised today during an online meeting to realize we have achieved the ability to work from home with our families and still get the job done. I work in the aerospace industry, part of the essential infrastructure workforce. As a result, we have adapted to protect employees by working virtually as we socially distance in place. Today, as we were reviewing some work, I could hear a dog, a bird, and one of the team members paused and muted himself to answer his daughter’s question about schoolwork. None of these interruptions detracted from the meeting or accomplishing our goal. I realized we have matured as a culture because of the circumstances thrust upon us by COVID-19. It seems much more like the more utopian culture described by the show, “Deep Space Nine” where Star Fleet members worked near their on-station homes.
I recall when laptops became prevalent many managers were reluctant to allow workers to telecommute. These managers didn’t trust the workers would still get the work done. I don’t deny that in some cases this is absolutely true. I can immediately recall one worker who I knew was taking advantage of the situation. For the most part, however, most people are honest and understand when they can and cannot telecommute.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, we are now forced to telecommute, and it works. Is it just possible that an unintended outcome of this pandemic is the realization that we don’t need brick-and-mortar offices to work from anymore? Businesses, that in many cases are starved for sufficient space during times of growth, could achieve the necessary results without filling parking lots full of cars on a daily basis.
If AOC wants to achieve a greener America maybe she should examine the reality of America rather than expecting to FORCE people to conform to her idealistic folly. Let’s see, if people telecommute the number of jobs will increase to support the needed hardware to expand the internet, less people will drive cars daily so carbon emissions will go down, tax revenues will increase based on the increased number of workers, and finally the economy will expand along with the workforce. That’s a capitalist thought of, not a socialist.
Maybe even Congress could learn to adapt casting off centuries’ old traditions of in-chambers votes and replacing tradition with technology. The travel expenses that companies are saving as we fight COVID-19 will be enormous. Rather than people flying around the country spreading all sorts of diseases, and causing carbon emissions, they could be achieving the same results from their home office. This pandemic might just be the event we needed to finally accept the advantages of technology that have been staring us in the face. Those people who like to travel just for the sake of traveling and frequent flier miles might be disappointed, but maybe they need to be. Again, I can think of many managers, directors, and executives who gladly fly weekly when a virtual meeting would get the job done.
Afterall, what is it we get out of face-to-face contact? I’ll admit, I like talking face-to-face, reading the facial expressions and body language of meeting participants. I enjoy meeting people, shaking hands (that’s a tradition this pandemic will kill), man-hugs (another bygone tradition) and getting to know them, but do I need to? I no longer shake hands, ever. We’ve gotten over these ancient rituals that represented loosening our guard and for the hand-crushers, a chance to exert their manhood. All these changes, and yet, we’re still getting the job done.
The silver-lining of the pandemic is the maturation of our culture. We will overcome, beat the coronavirus, develop a vaccine, and become stronger. We may also see that there are ways to improve our lives, pollute less, produce more, and expand our economy without FORCING people to do what politicians say. Which, by the way, would result in degrading our lives, polluting more, producing less, and shrinking our economy.
We have a history of overcoming adversity. We are America!
Dr. T