WFH thoughts

Here I am WFH for the 18th month in a row thanks to COVID. The prevailing sentiment on the programmer internet seems to be that people are very happy about this. I mean, the cultural shift that allows WFH permanently, not COVID.

In a lot of ways, it is really good. The dispersal of “city people” throughout the less urban U.S. might help ease polarization, or at least make gerrymandering ever-so-slightly less effective. Individuals save a ton of time on on their commute and money on expensive housing. They can spend more time with their friends and family. It gives opportunity to people who couldn’t afford a move to the city.

I see all those benefits, but at the same time, heck, I just wish people could be in the same place. I just prefer being around the people I work with. It feels easier to understand and be understood. It’s possible to go get some coffee or kick around a soccer ball.

There’s an energy to being in a room with people. And there’s an energy to working on something together. I can get one or the other right now, but never both together, and that’s a bummer.

For me, yeah, I’m WFH right now, but I could still go into work. I have a house fairly close to the office–I’m not going anywhere anytime soon. But the tough part is that so many people have left that, even if I go back to the office, it can never be the same. Most of the engineers are WFH and don’t plan to come back.

I don’t know where I’m going with this. Just longing for the days of hacking with friends, and wondering if that sort of thing will spring up in smaller towns around the country. Like garage bands. There must be others like me out there, maybe some of them don’t even realize it yet.