Friday Fives – the good that came from it all

What are five good things we have learned from the pandemic?

Less drivers out there, which means…

Less accidents

less pollution

Just about every cubicle job in America can be done from home… or the tire shop… or Jamaica.  Can I just say “I told you so!”?

I have been building WAH program for about 15 years now.  Not going to name employers (what with the pending lawsuits and restraining orders and all), but everyone I have gone I have tried to build a WAH program.  Very often, it’s pulling teeth.  I finally got Sprint to embrace (all thanks to Debbie, god how I miss you.   RIP.  After demonstrates we could get rid of any entire office building.  And we did.

I am just gonna sit on this rant for a bit.  Let’s get comfortable.  One of the biggest concerns people had with WAH was productivity for entry level, hourly employees.  It fixes itself.  Here is now > working from home is like crack.  Once you get a taste, you will never go back.   Sprint had already tried WAH and abandoned it.   We tried it, since everyone home for like 2 or 3 days a week.  They way, there is still time in the office to chat with peers and friends and do meetings.  The agents understood if their performance fell below expectations… back to the office.  After a couple of months, performance skyrocketed.

I was at another employer who was super duper reluctant to do WFM.  I won’t say who it is, I am not petty.  BUT.. it rhymes with AAA.  Here is the thing, we were 24/7 emergency service.  This means the worse the weather and roads were, the more they needed people working.  Instead, the worse the roads were, we forced people to come in.  “Hi, Stuart.  Yeah, about this blizzard we have outside?  Couple feet of snow?  Govt ordered everyone to stay in.   We are going to need your $14 an hour ass in here in like an hour.  It will take you that long just to dig out the car?  Ok, attendance points.  I said “Lets get them home.   At least as a stand by.  It took three years, and the historic bomb cyclone for them to agree.  They were still weary, though.  They only let us have 5 folks work from home… it took another 2 years after the cyclone hit to get to 5.  Proof of concept was done, but they were still nervous.  I left the company right before Covid hit.  A couple months into Covid they sent everyone home.  EVERYONE.  Just as my current company did.

I just feel, and this is quite petty, it should be called the Kevin P Lang Lono work from home program.  Because if I hadn’t done that years of legwork and working IT and HR, that would not have been on option.  Btw, AAA is still an amazing product and you should have it.  Even though I left, I still keep AAA and always will.  Working there for 5 years, I know the value.  Here is the deal, the average single tow costs about $250.   AND…  you have to deal with those skeevy guys.  AAA gives you THREE of those tows… for a total of $75 a year.  Basically, even if you only use AAA once every 5 years, it still pays for itself.

Wait… what were we talking about again?

Pollution!  Take a look at these before and after pics of places before and after.

Cleanliness – man, that first month or two we really cleaned like crazy.  It was beautiful.  But, quickly abandoned that nonsense

Puzzles are just as boring as remember.

It gave us Julie Nolke, and this… our first really hearty belly laugh in a very long time.  Watch her videos, she is brilliant.

It taught us right wing folk really are afraid of science.  I have a theory, though, that they only hate science when it inconveniences them. I am 100% serious, think about it.  Look at the anti -vaxxers.  Somehow, Jenny McCarthy became the voice of ? when she started convincing Americans that immunization is wack.  OK, we have hundred years of science, and about 43K physicians who agree how critical it it.  Or… you have the hotty from that Mtv show.  Guess which one the right jumped on to?

And to the righty politicians who pushed this lie knowing otherwise?  May you all rot in hell.  You are murderers!  I lot of them a backpedaling now that Trump is gone.  Too late, you are murderers and should be treated thusly.  Let’s look at this guy.  US Senator Richard Burr was in secret meetings about Covid.  He was given top secret information about the seriousness and scope of the Coronavirus.  This was before even that it was called a ‘pandemic’, but he was told it was becoming a pandemic.  This treasonous, murderous fuckface came out and told folks everything was fine.  Did he do this to calm American nerves?  Not hardly.  He used this buffer to dump all of his stock knowing the stock market was going crash bad.   Fuck this guy.  And he is a public servant?  Fine.  Hang him in public, then.  Big surprise, he is also a right, and STILL supports Trump.  When you are in hell, I will call down Chris Brown to dance on your corpse.

Telemedicine – there is a LOT you can get done with your doc over a zoom call.  Come closer to the screen.  No.  Closer.  Does this look infected to you?

Drinking – boy, we took to drinking awfully quick once we were locked down.  I remember back in… June?  Something like that.  The Governor announced closing all non essential businesses.  This included weed store and liquor stores.  He was closing them down tomorrow.  Many idiot panicked and BOLTED to the liquor store.  I know I sure did.  You are telling me I can’t leave my house for the next 6 months to a year and no boozing, either?  Well, I was clearly not the only person in Colorado to react as I did.  By the time I got to the weed store (having already hit the liquor store) the Governor had already rescinded the thing about booze and pot.  It took only a few hours.   Sally texted me the ban was lifted while I was inline at the pot store.  Thank god, that line was long as shit, and nobody was wearing a mask.  I abandoned that mission.  Why bother, I had a truck full of booze.

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