Two years ago today (3/17/20), my company closed their offices and required us all to shift to working from home.
This wasn't actually a surprise, as we'd gotten our first "we're watching this and will keep you updated" message on 1/30/20. In that one we were told that we could consider a "flexible work arrangement" if we were directly impacted. The next message, on 2/15/20, was an update about the situation and the restricted travel of anyone coming to the U.S. from China, as well as some restrictions related to work-related travel. On 2/27/20 those restrictions on travel were tightened, and on 3/1/20 there was no cross-border travel allowed. Wow did we not have a clue. No one did. Or maybe a few people.
It's actually impressive that the company was communicating with us so early, and so globally, but then they have employees all over the world. Still, they impressed me then and still do now. The 3/1/20 message said "don't travel at all if you don't have to." On 3/3/20 they told us that the offices were being cleaned every night, and that if we didn't feel comfortable coming in, or if we needed to stay home due to school closures, we could work with our manager to coordinate working from home. On 3/4/20 the official recommendation was to work from home: "Please work from home" and while not a requirement, it was a "strong recommendation." On 3/12/20 we were told to "Please work from home effective immediately." I had already begun doing so around 3/6. And then on 3/17, the offices were closed, a "hard close" which meant even those who preferred to go into work could not do so. This was the beginning of the last two years. The expectation, at that point, was that working from home would extend "through at least April 15." Ha!
Meanwhile, on 3/13 and 3/14, K and I went to a horse show where she did quite well. Few people were wearing masks, but there was a lot of air circulation, and to be fair, at that point it was hard to get masks. We also knew almost nothing about what we were facing. Handwashing and sanitizer were the key tools we had. We were hesitant, but she really wanted to go, so we did, wondering if maybe we were doing something completely foolish.
There were also the first runs on supplies in the stores. Toilet paper!! Rice!!! Oh my!
How were we going to last until April 15th?!?
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