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My department held an awards luncheon this past week. It was virtual, since the company decided to discard one of our leased buildings, leave the second one closed except for basic services, and continue to have all our phone contact personnel work from home. There have been rumors that next year we will actually meet in person someplace, but considering we are spread out in some half dozen states from Cape May to Kalamazoo, I doubt we will have as big a turnout as a virtual meeting will.
The surprising thing about the virtual luncheon is that nobody ate on camera.
In the good old days–three years ago when we had an actual office culture–people ate together in the cafeteria without any embarrassment. Now that we’ve become hermits in our own homes, we seem to be more ashamed of being observed close-up while eating our meals.
One person was too tempted by their selection (delivered via food delivery service and paid for by the company) to wait, and they sneaked in a few bites as we joined in some good-natured ice-breaking conversation and tried to stoke the fires of camaraderie on a Brady Bunch-style video conference. Even though nobody else ate, I know everybody got lunch, because had one of the e-gift cards not been delivered, I would have been the first person to hear of it.
I had also chosen not to eat while the meeting was in progress, because as one of the organizing crew, I needed to be the one to run the awards slideshow and watch for any activities needing attention. If I needed to speak up, that would be hard to do while devouring luncheon food.
In all it turned out to be a fun time. We set aside an hour for the event and it ultimately ended up taking about forty minutes. It wasn’t anything like black tie or a stage with an orchestra pit, but we had the opportunity to see people we don’t normally view in our new normal. All but one attended, which is admirable considering how our schedules work. I could do it again next year.
I doubt we will actually do anything in person before I’m ready to retire. It doesn’t seem feasible, and it may just end up being more awkward than a virtual event. Does anybody still have clothes for a nice place to eat out anymore?
My home life is a sort of solitary confinement, since I have no regular visitors, so my mental stimulation and social exposure both come from going out to public places like the mall. Also, after breaking a 45-day television limited period, my news was coming from my computer via trusted sites and social media.
Never have I been more depressed about the condition our country is in.
While I was in a store finishing my purchases, the woman behind the counter chatted with me about general things, and somehow the subject was brought up of a student suicide attempt where she is on the faculty. The student in question was suspected of having a mixed home life (with a possible dishonorable parent present). She apparently downed a handful of over-the-counter pills in the restroom, then called 911 on herself and sat in the main lobby waiting for the paramedics to arrive, not even alerting the main office staff. The subject of bullying came up, because I told her how I felt about the issue. Earlier this year, a student in a school system not far from mine died by suicide to rid herself of the constant bullying she was experiencing. The woman at the counter told me that nothing was ever done to bullies, because detention or other attempts to call attention to bad behavior hurts their feelings.
So bullying is not only okay in schools, but the system is discouraging punishment for it.
As I was leaving the store (a women’s clothier), a young lad of about three years old was being driven through the mall in a kid-friendly push cart by his father. The kid was raising the retractable parent handle out of its holder and banging it down repetitively, with the wild-eyed look of overstimulation on his face. Other shoppers were trying valiantly to glance away and ignore the commotion, but having just been mentally blown away by the status of school-age behavior, I was in a bad mood.
Mind you, I never had the privilege of being around children, but I know enough about parenting techniques which are tested and proven that I just went for it. The father was looking at me sheepishly as I regarded the young man and said, “My goodness! What happens when it’s broken and you can’t play with it anymore?” This did give the tyke pause. The dad said, “Move on to the next thing to break.” I laughed good-naturedly, smiled at the poor dad and then continued speaking to the kid. “Do you know what’s better? Building things! Building things is great. You can make whatever you want, and then break it and start over.” I then extended my apologies to the dad, who didn’t seem put out by my presence, and I left the store feeling like the Lil’ Abner character Joe with the unpronounceable last name who had a perpetual cloud over his head.
I was three for three: the dinner I had before entering the store–two slices of mushroom pizza–was as cardboard-like as I had anticipated, and things got worse from there.
A woman with a rented retail cart approached me and wanted to use one of her straightening gizmos on my hair. Those demo model flat irons have been used on too many other people’s heads for my comfort. I had to back away like a scared cat and make a run for it. Working for commission or getting people’s attention for a start-up can cause desperation to sink in, but for goodness sake, don’t abduct people.
Back at home, I watched a few videos, and was disgusted to find that a college student thought that San Francisco was not in California, that another thought she and her significant other both needed to take her birth control pills (thus using up a 28-day supply in 14 days), and the reason a third pound burger lost its popularity on a restaurant’s menu was because people thought a quarter pound was more meat.
Then I was brought into a courtroom video featuring a sovereign citizen. This is loosely defined as a person who apparently likes living in the US because they can decide to reject government and invoke their own individual anarchistic method of living, in which they need not be held accountable for obtaining proper identification or obeying common safety-oriented laws. This means they have no license, their vehicles have no plates, and if they are arrested for suspicion of an offense, they simply say they won’t accept judgment nor the persons invoking it. That endlessly horrendous piece of time in my life I would not get back definitely beat out the folks on the docket who claimed Jesus to be their lawyer or represented (yawn) themselves in court (and often lost). Next was a woman who said she needed to breathe, so refused to cover her nose and mouth like the hundred or more passengers–who, obviously, were breathing just fine–and enjoyed the chaos she created until she was escorted off the flight.
This is the current generation, developed over two to three decades of inattention, misinformation and gross neglect.
If I didn’t benefit from the walking and conversation, I would opt for the quiet of staying home with the computer and TV off. Better silence than all of this.
In my lifetime I have seen only two monarchs rule Great Britain, yet there have been thirteen Presidents of the United States since my birth. Imagine that. Britain had one queen for a long time, and now it has yet another king. Thirteen people (out of the 46 we’ve had in our history) took on the most important job in our country, and served for a few years each. This may support the idea that some people do have a job for life. That seems to be a passing concept these days, and not one we prefer.
The late Queen Elizabeth II devoted her entire life to the service of her country. She was born royal, she took on the great responsibility of being the monarch and retained that duty to her last breath. Not that one or two four-year terms of a president makes them any less devoted, but for the men who have served our nation, there have been times before and after that service in which they were ordinary people. Monarchs don’t do that.
We in the “colonies” are in a social system in which we like to switch people around. When election time comes, we don’t always let the last official stay in office, which sometimes means we fluctuate between one system of government and another every few years. Sometimes we find a huge population of our citizens feeling either contentedly stuck in the system they like, or mired in the wrong system for those few years.
The monarchy, however, stands strong with their people ready for record-holding periods of rule, and the citizens don’t seem to mind. The proof is that Elizabeth II had the longest reign ever (over 70 years) and Victoria placed second with 63 years on the throne (two kings came in next in the 50-year-plus category). We had one president (Franklin Roosevelt) who served three terms because it was available to be done, and another (William Henry Harrison) lasted a month.
The back-and-forth two-party government has been difficult and increasing polarizing lately, yet watching the coronation of the new rulers across the pond brings some hope that, whether one is born to duty or elected to it, we can handle change and thrive in it regardless of how it happens.
Who knows what will happen in the years to come?
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