Staying at home during the pandemic has its pros and its cons. It is good to be able to get out of bed, brush my teeth, wash my face, and sit at my computer and I am at work. I am not chasing after a bus and a train and walking another block braving the elements cold rain or sunshine.
And school is basically the same, not rushing to get a bus or train at a precise time in order to get on campus and be present when the professor calls the roll. Some professors are very understanding while others will go off like a ticking time bomb if you are late. And so from that perspective operating from home is great.
On the other hand, operating from home can be a nightmare. The first thing I will note is that I am not a teen college student. I am married and have a family that includes my elderly mother. If I am not home everybody is in charge of taking care of themselves, however, as long as I am home I am automatically charged with taking care of everybody else. Everything seems to be lost and I am the only one who can find it. I am constantly being asked where stuff is.
The second nightmare I have in the middle of the busy day is the wifi. Everybody is on the wifi and working, or doing homework can be challenging. I believe the internet companies are doing this on purpose so they can charge more money for what they call faster speed with a broader reach. Not to mention the warning that you now have less than 30 percent of storage space available. Now I have to stop to see what can be stored on a thumb-drive and what I need to put in the thrash to make the space needed to continue a task. I have to jump on youtube and give myself a crash course in troubleshooting and fixing computer problems.
Another hurdle is the distraction around you. Someone is watching TV and some other family member is on their phone talking up a storm letting out varying sounds consummate to the tone and mood of the conversation. My concentration and focus are then thrust into what feels like a war zone with bullets flying all around. And of course, here comes the mailman who is not just satisfied with dropping the mail but ringing the doorbell to alert you that the mail has arrived. Or the occasional salesman trying to sell solar panels or home security systems.
Being the multitasker that I am, there is a load of laundry in the washing machine. Or I am helping my mom set up her virtual doctor appointment. The one conversation I find hilarious and entertaining. The appointment lasted no more than 10 minutes after she had to take her own blood pressure reading and check her own sugar levels and report the findings to the doctor.
My mom would ask the doctor if he planned to charge the same fee for the ten-minute video chat where she had to triage herself. When the doctor told her yes, she gasped in horror and politely said goodbye then whined and complained about it all day. Noting that the world has fallen in a bad state of disrepair and that the last days are at hand.
So yes working from home has some perks. Knowing that most of the family is safe at home away from COVID-19 is absolutely great and spending time with the family is amazing. I love my family, however, catching a bus and a train braving the elements of cold rain or shine is beginning to sound very good.
