Why Are You Still Working From Home?

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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Now to your calls on if you're working from home and you have a choice, is your reluctance to go back to the office more COVID, more crime, more convenience, or tell us what it is? Graham in Inwood, you're on WNYC. Hi, Graham.

Graham: Hey, thank you, Brian, and thank you for taking part in a respectful interactive journalism. As much as I love my pajamas, my reason is COVID, but it's specifically because the mayor we got, because people in the city were scared of capable women, didn't bring back a mask mandate. If you go on the subway, at least half of the people are unmasked in a little metal tube. If you have any actual fears of the numbers you stated, or just getting a form of COVID that is unpleasant, not deadly, you don't go on the subway anymore. That's what's keeping me off and how much I like my pajamas. Thank you.

Brian Lehrer: And threw the pajamas in there at the end too. Maybe it's unfair to Mayor Adams to say that he was elected because people were afraid of competent women, but that's Graham's take. Kathleen in Harlem, you're on WNYC. Hi, Kathleen.

Kathleen: Hi. Yes, actually I concur with everything. I totally agree with everything this last caller said. It's unsafe to be on the subway. The masks are just not there, and then of course, there's that Twitter thing that happened where you see some guy just attacking a woman and everybody in the subway car is just sitting there and there's somebody filming it. Who want's that?

Brian Lehrer: So it's both. You're saying it's really both, crime and COVID?

Kathleen: Yes and here's another thing I wrote to you. The New York City has their Department Of Election poll workers. Last year, I worked as an election worker and we did our training over the internet. You could get all your training and then you showed up, and unfortunately, at my polling place, the guy who managed our site wouldn't put a mask on until actual election pollsters came in, until voters came in. That was one thing. Now they want us to retrain and I'm saying, "Yes, I'm definitely up for working for the election. Definitely want to work for the election. I don't want people standing in line.”

Now it's been four weeks since they told me that they will get it together so we could do more remote training. They said, "You have to do your training again. Even though it's been less than a year, we want you to revise your training.” Okay, great. "Can you come in for an in-person class?" and the news was that the numbers were going up for COVID. Why would a New York City board of elections insist on this happening?

Brian Lehrer: Right, when you could do that retraining remotely before you went in person for the actual election. Interesting. Kathleen, thank you very much. There's a little both and from Kathleen, people being crime victims on the subway, but also the subway-- and even though, I said this in the intro, the subway is the place where the COVID mask mandate is still in fact, but we've had two callers now saying people aren't masking all that reliably. Bradley in Manhattan, you're on WNYC. Hi, Bradley.

Bradley: Thanks, Brian. I appreciate you taking my call. Over the weekend, I actually got punched in the face while riding the subway and it was--

Brian Lehrer: Randomly?

Bradley: Randomly, it was unprovoked. I was standing in front of the doorway taking the train and a guy came up to me and said, "Please move." I moved and then he turned around and said, "You still haven't moved," and then I took one right in the nose. The train stopped, and the MTA, everybody scattered because I think everybody is on high alert riding the subway right now. The MTA operator came over and said, "Do you want to press charges?" I said, "No, I've got places to be."

I’d come in from it of the opinion that even before that happened, I still just have no interest in returning to an office place ever. I think you summed it up perfectly by saying, "Who doesn't want to work in pajamas and comfy slippers most of the time, versus having to do the drag of being a commuter into an office place?” That just never is going to sound appealing to me ever again, regardless if I get assaulted on the subway. Thank you.

Brian Lehrer: Wow, that's very honest. Do you think something is lost either by you or by your colleagues or by your employer by a lot of people doing what you just described?

Bradley: Well, I don't want to make assumptions about other people. I think what has maybe been gained is this idea that we don't need to be constantly working in order to make a living, or maybe this idea that a work-life balance can exist even in a city like New York that's known for everybody constantly being on and constantly working.

Brian Lehrer: Right. Although I think you're not saying you're not doing your job as hard as before. You're just saying you're not spending as much time commuting as before.

Bradley: Yes, 100%. I think you're able to say that, plus, I think you're able to say when you actually look at a day, how you spend time in your day, you're able to get some of that time back when you don't have to commute, whether that's by the MTA, biking, driving. You can actually say, "Wow, I have time for other things. Oh, and on top of that, I'm probably not going to get punched on the subway today.”

Brian Lehrer: Bradley, thank you for your call. Be safe out there or in there. Ezra in the Bronx, you're on WNYC. Hi, Ezra.

Ezra: Hi, Brian. Yes, I work half and half, at home sometimes and sometimes in the office. My biggest reason is yes, I'm scared of COVID, yes, I'm scared of danger in [unintelligible 00:06:36] a train, but more than anything, like the last guy was saying, it's more about just being comfortable and being able to work in my own home. Also in having a change of scene. Like the other guy was saying, who wants to be in an office five days a week, it’s the same kind of day. That you’re getting up and putting on annoying uncomfortable clothes to get to work. It's just nice, not even to be in your pajamas, but to get up sometimes and just drink some coffee and just wear whatever you want to wear. Wear my tank top and my shorts instead of having to put on some annoying suit and then work in a fluorescent-lit office.

Brian Lehrer: Yes, I hear you.

Ezra: For me-- Yes?

Brian Lehrer: No, no, I was just acknowledging.

Ezra: Also cooking. I don't really like going out to eat too much. I like to cook my own food. I like to think that I eat very healthy. The fact that I don't have to bring my lunch with me and carry that extra weight on the train, and then I can just go to the supermarket, buy my vegetables, whatever it is, and then just cook in my house while I'm working. It's just nice. It's that overall ability to relax.

Brian Lehrer: And the expense.

Ezra: Yes.

Brian Lehrer: And still getting your work done. Ezra, thank you so much. Here's one on Twitter. Yuko writes, "Artist here. Multiple reasons: I am an Asian female. Two, my studio, in the midtown office area, got deserted. I used to work odd hours at night. There have been multiple muggings in the building and the building management told me not to be working late. Not sure what to do." There are some other things. One more. Ruth in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hi, Ruth.

Ruth: Hi. I work for a retailer called JAM, J-A-M, and I've been with them for about 11 years. We used to have three stores on Third Avenue. I'm a graphic designer. I'm also people person who loves dressing up and interacting with the customers--

Brian Lehrer: Ruth, I’m going to apologize. We've got 15 seconds left, so get to it.

Ruth: Commercial real estate couldn't afford the rent and e-commerce is picking up so there was no need to have brick and mortar.

Brian Lehrer: Did your employer just decide to disaggregate?

Ruth: Yes, all the stores closed. We're making more money online and it left money in the stores actually losing money through the physical properties.

Brian Lehrer: Wow and there you go. Well, that was really interesting. I think a real smattering of reasons. It's all of the above, but maybe in there, there's also a little, "Hey, Mayor Adams, don't forget about COVID."

 

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