I would love to stop thinking about all the bad policies being implemented via executive order by the new administration. For someone (that is, the president) who has spent years ranting about government overreach, some of the dictates are complete contradictions to this stance. Then, there’s the assertion that this administration is working to make life better for American families. The unspoken subtext, I’m pretty sure, is straight white American families. But these executive orders negatively impact even those folks, as I learned first-hand this week. I’m talking about the executive order for all federal employees to return to the office five days a week and no longer work from their homes, remote.
Like you do?
Except that I work for myself and not the government, yes, 9.
Remote work: preliminary plotting for Book Six in my fantasy/mythology series. . .
A big wave of working remote started with COVID. At first it was a scramble, with people reorganizing their living space to accommodate working from home and facilitating their children’s school work by digital means. Lots of Zoom meetings, lots of office furniture and equipment ordered online and delivered to the door. It was a hard adjustment for everybody, especially going without social interaction outside of the immediate household, but there were some benefits, too. Like if one parent needed to go somewhere it was very likely the other parent would be home to supervise the kids. It was also determined that remote workers got just as much work done, if not more, than they did in an office.
Then why were they made to return to working in offices?
Good question, Lily, and I don’t like the answer one bit. The new administration expects a lot of people will decide to quit, rather than return to working in an office five days a week. The new administration has a (what I believe is under-analyzed and possibly unsubstantiated) belief that the current level of federal employees constitutes wasteful spending. To me, it looks more like an attempt to wipe out employees who are loyal to the country but not necessarily to the new administration. This is true of any administration, not just this one. However, I don’t believe the new administration has the best interests of the country at heart.
Here’s what I mean.
Circling back to “helping families,” the negative effects of forced return to the office manifested during this week’s snow storm. This Wednesday there was a two-hour school delay because of snow.
Yay! And we get to wear jeans to school when that happens.
Believe it or not, 9, public school kids these days can wear jeans whenever they want. Returning to Wednesday, I reported to the hair salon for my 9:30 A appointment. This is my usual time, every 8 weeks- –
Whether you need it or not.
Thank you for the personal grooming commentary, Lily. When I arrived at the salon the door was open, the lights were on, and the music was playing. But there was no one in sight. I loudly said Hello. My stylist popped out of the back room. Where is everybody? I asked. I don’t know, she said.
Her first client had cancelled on account of having the flu. We speculated that all the other stylists’ early appointments had cancelled because of the snow.
Remote work: sometimes it’s a performing-oriented project, like a makeup plot for an upcoming production. . .
We were on our own for nearly an hour (she was redoing my highlights, which requires extra time). One by one the other stylists trickled in. The one who has young children at home said she was waiting with them for the two hour school delay. Someone asked Wasn’t your husband there to do that? No, she said, Trump ordered everyone to go back to the office.
Because her husband was no longer able to work remote, the stylist with the school-aged kids had to cancel and re-shuffle her appointments that day, to accommodate the late school opening. She’d been looking forward to a less stressful day, without double bookings, but that plan was totally derailed.
The end of remote work for federal employees resulted in a full-time stylist having to re-configure a reasonable schedule to a stressful schedule to accommodate a school snow delay. When her husband was working remote, as a two-earner family they had the ability to absorb last-minute emergencies without substantially increased stress and possible loss of income. But now. . .
This change, like the executive order permitting ICE agents to raid the places known as churches and schools- -places where families should feel safe to gather and entrust the safety of their children to educators and administrators- -is not good for American families. Even the white, straight ones.
If I were feeling kindly towards the new administration, I could say these are unintended consequences of the flood of rash and ill-considered executive orders that, frankly, look more like favors to large campaign donors. I also think it’s part of a power play, the new president flexing his muscles and show American citizens who’s boss.
He’s wrong in that, because, American citizens, we, in fact, are the boss! This country is not the personal property of any president or any oligarch. Never forget that! Hold your senators and congressional representatives to their responsibility to maintain a balance of power that prevents the executive and judicial branches from overreach. You can do this by emailing or calling their offices. Frequently. If you think your voice isn’t important, consider how many drops it takes to fill a reservoir.
Use your voice and, when the opportunity arises, use your vote. Together, we are mighty.
Very good description of life here in the US today. Hope the next 4years go quickly.
As do I, Patsy! Thanks so much for reading the blog and taking the time to comment, I appreciate it!