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The same, but different
Last week I ventured into London on the train for the first time since March 2020. The trigger was social: some former colleagues were hoping to arrange a get-together to celebrate (another) new job. It is striking that none of us has had particularly happy experiences since parting company in 2018-2019, though it seems the second jobs after moving on are more stable.
I had dithered over whether this was a good idea or not. On the one hand, new covid cases are flat-lining at the rather high level of around 30,000 a day and it's not as if deaths or long covid have gone away; but on the other, this might be as good as it gets for the next few months, so it might make sense to do things while you can. In the end, I put it to my current team-mates that I might be heading in to London for an evening event, and did they feel like joining me in the office that day? My potential selfishness was countered by knowing that I had made full disclosure of my motives, and that the company is encouraging people to try the office once or twice over the summer, while still maintaining a mostly work from home policy. (We have shed a lot of office space, and the medium to long term plan is for hybrid working). They both said yes, so we booked desks.
Nerves were not helped by car parking fiasco in Reading. The card machine at King's Meadow wasn't talking to the Internet, a common problem from years ago that had, in recent years, been mostly resolved. But I hadn't accounted for the possibility that my RingGo account might also not work. It unhelpfully gave me vague messages about incorrect credentials and promised to text me an access code "if I had an account" - which it failed to do in a timely manner, so I ended up in the station car park. For a one-off, I decided I had saved rather more money over the past year plus, and I could afford it. (Later, I realised the probability was that the account had been deleted through dormancy, confirmed by my ability to re-register.)
I'd had to make a seat reservation the night before when I booked my train ticket, but on closer inspection it turned out to be "optional" and as an earlier train arrived on the platform, it was in fact mostly empty, so I got on. I'd noticed that face coverings seemed to be distinctly optional on the station concourse, but observance was better on the platform and on the train, though there were only a handful of people in each carriage. Say what you like about rail nationalisation, but at least the trains run on time.
I didn't know what I would face in the way of one-way systems at Paddington, but it turned out to be as "normal", only much quieter. Navigating from the footbridge to the eastbound Circle Line / H&C platforms, I noticed the smell of cigarette smoke as I passed the smoking area, which tells you something about the effectiveness of face coverings (although I suppose they are more intended to stop water vapour droplets which would be much larger). Despite being mandatory on the tube, a remarkable number of people appeared to be exempt, and one was compliant only if no air circulated in either direction through his nose. But anyway, I got to the office for about 9am, which was my plan.
It was good to meet my team-mates - one for the first time - and although the office was largely deserted, we felt we had "done our bit" and I think it was a useful day, not so much for productive work but more for getting to know people and sharing conversation, though that has a value to the company too, and indeed is one of the stated reasons for going to the office. We had lunch from Pilpel, sitting outside to eat in a much quieter than normal Paternoster Square.
Google reckoned it was a half-hour walk from the office to my evening rendezvous location, which suited me fine. London did seem quiet, less hectic and more relaxed, than I remember it. Perhaps this is Blitz Spirit - making do with what you can, recognising the futility of being too demanding in such circumstances. Flat Iron Square was busy and we did well to avoid it in the end; a late cancellation meant that we did in fact get to eat outside at O'Ver, a favourite location from past times. It was good to see my friends again; and the food was as good as ever. We did move on to another pub, outside, but still busy, and I only stayed for a short while, because of the long trip home.
The tube back to Paddington was a little busier than in the morning, and although my heart sank seeing the number of people moving to join the train to Reading, in fact I have obviously become less good at judging numbers, as we were all very well spaced out in the carriages again.
Although I had my unease about the whole venture, it was certainly good to see people again and for my mental health, and I haven't been pinged so far. Even if I am, the new rules mean I won't have to self-isolate, which sums up the government's attitude: we're all on our own now.
I had dithered over whether this was a good idea or not. On the one hand, new covid cases are flat-lining at the rather high level of around 30,000 a day and it's not as if deaths or long covid have gone away; but on the other, this might be as good as it gets for the next few months, so it might make sense to do things while you can. In the end, I put it to my current team-mates that I might be heading in to London for an evening event, and did they feel like joining me in the office that day? My potential selfishness was countered by knowing that I had made full disclosure of my motives, and that the company is encouraging people to try the office once or twice over the summer, while still maintaining a mostly work from home policy. (We have shed a lot of office space, and the medium to long term plan is for hybrid working). They both said yes, so we booked desks.
Nerves were not helped by car parking fiasco in Reading. The card machine at King's Meadow wasn't talking to the Internet, a common problem from years ago that had, in recent years, been mostly resolved. But I hadn't accounted for the possibility that my RingGo account might also not work. It unhelpfully gave me vague messages about incorrect credentials and promised to text me an access code "if I had an account" - which it failed to do in a timely manner, so I ended up in the station car park. For a one-off, I decided I had saved rather more money over the past year plus, and I could afford it. (Later, I realised the probability was that the account had been deleted through dormancy, confirmed by my ability to re-register.)
I'd had to make a seat reservation the night before when I booked my train ticket, but on closer inspection it turned out to be "optional" and as an earlier train arrived on the platform, it was in fact mostly empty, so I got on. I'd noticed that face coverings seemed to be distinctly optional on the station concourse, but observance was better on the platform and on the train, though there were only a handful of people in each carriage. Say what you like about rail nationalisation, but at least the trains run on time.
I didn't know what I would face in the way of one-way systems at Paddington, but it turned out to be as "normal", only much quieter. Navigating from the footbridge to the eastbound Circle Line / H&C platforms, I noticed the smell of cigarette smoke as I passed the smoking area, which tells you something about the effectiveness of face coverings (although I suppose they are more intended to stop water vapour droplets which would be much larger). Despite being mandatory on the tube, a remarkable number of people appeared to be exempt, and one was compliant only if no air circulated in either direction through his nose. But anyway, I got to the office for about 9am, which was my plan.
It was good to meet my team-mates - one for the first time - and although the office was largely deserted, we felt we had "done our bit" and I think it was a useful day, not so much for productive work but more for getting to know people and sharing conversation, though that has a value to the company too, and indeed is one of the stated reasons for going to the office. We had lunch from Pilpel, sitting outside to eat in a much quieter than normal Paternoster Square.
Google reckoned it was a half-hour walk from the office to my evening rendezvous location, which suited me fine. London did seem quiet, less hectic and more relaxed, than I remember it. Perhaps this is Blitz Spirit - making do with what you can, recognising the futility of being too demanding in such circumstances. Flat Iron Square was busy and we did well to avoid it in the end; a late cancellation meant that we did in fact get to eat outside at O'Ver, a favourite location from past times. It was good to see my friends again; and the food was as good as ever. We did move on to another pub, outside, but still busy, and I only stayed for a short while, because of the long trip home.
The tube back to Paddington was a little busier than in the morning, and although my heart sank seeing the number of people moving to join the train to Reading, in fact I have obviously become less good at judging numbers, as we were all very well spaced out in the carriages again.
Although I had my unease about the whole venture, it was certainly good to see people again and for my mental health, and I haven't been pinged so far. Even if I am, the new rules mean I won't have to self-isolate, which sums up the government's attitude: we're all on our own now.