Hello: My first week at my new job during quarantine

Written: May 24, 2020

Starting a new job has some similarities everywhere, at least in the jobs I have had so far.   The first day is usually orientation to help you get familiar with the company, its values and guidelines.   This one went surprisingly similar.   There were 3 of us starting on Monday May 18^th, which is very exciting considering many companies are on a hiring freeze or have had to furlough some employees.   We wore a mask into the room and in any common areas, but they spread us out so we did not have to wear them all day.   I also learned that the tie masks are worse for my little face and make me warmer because I have to tie them tight for them to stay on. While I am still not a huge fan of masks, I am less annoyed with them now. 

One of the biggest differences in this first week was I had not been out of the house for work in weeks.   I had been working from home.    I like working from home and if I could leave the house more, I would prefer it in a lot of ways.   But during quarantine, I rarely left and it took a larger toll on me than I realized.   I felt a much bigger relief getting out of the house last week than I expected.  I am curious as people go out more if they will realize being at home for that many weeks was not healthy for them either.  I also felt like it took more energy out of me to socialize for 5 days straight because I was no longer used to it.

One downfall of this particular week was missing Hannah.  I was used to seeing her every day for most of the day.   Fortunately, I start going in the office only on Tuesdays and Thursdays this week.    Going into work every day for my first week caused me to be even more thankful to God for this opportunity. 

Some good news about my first week is that the other employees were all nice and welcoming.   I got good vibes from everyone and the overall culture is a positive one.  This is the opposite of my last job where I knew after a week that the culture did not fit with my mostly optimistic attitude.   I will not spend as much time around my coworkers or in the office at this job, but I am still grateful for a better work environment.

Outside of work, this was a strange week overall.   It rained every day (as you can see from the frizzy hairs sticking up in my first day selfie LOL). It rained so much that first responders had to rescue people from their homes in a neighborhood close to ours due to flooding.   People also started being more relaxed when outside their homes.   One day, I took a package to a shipping store and then picked up fast food for lunch and the employees at both places were not wearing masks.  I personally do not mind, but I was surprised to see it.   I would rather us all just keep the 6 feet distance and wash our hands often. But I know some people feel more comfortable with masks and I respect that.

As life tends to balance, when my work life improved there were some disappointments in other areas this week.   We were originally supposed to go to Nashville for Memorial Day weekend but the hotel canceled a couple weeks ago.  We then planned to go fishing up at Lake Erie instead, but Andy’s boat had an issue they were not able to fix this week.   We still made the most out of it by going up to Lake Erie and hanging out yesterday, but we are definitely ready to go to Nashville and to go fishing now.  On top of that, my mom and I had tickets to see Rascal Flatts in September for their Farewell tour and they cancelled the whole tour.   We knew it could happen, but we were hoping they would wait to see what happens this summer with coronavirus before making the call.  This is the second time we have tried to see them and the second time it has been cancelled. Last time, my mom drove down to see them with me at the Nutter Center at Wright State and it snowed so much that they cancelled.   Thankfully these are first world problems, but things that were a bummer nonetheless.

I am excited to say I still felt safe with leaving the house more this week.  I think as long as you are taking common sense precautions and not getting into very crowded situations, it is not a high risk.   I also went through the intense first few months of Hannah starting day care last year where I learned sometimes you  do everything you can to try and avoid illness and it still happens.  Especially when your kid likes to grab everything and chew on it.    So we are not living in fear and we are being careful.   It has been a nice balance for us so far.    I hope all of you have been able to get out and enjoy the nice weekend (at least here in Ohio).   And I hope hearing about someone being out in the world all week makes you feel a little better about it as we all adjust to living life during the pandemic.