Monday, April 6th. If you’re lucky enough to still have a job--and millions upon millions are not so lucky--today may be your day to go “back” to work. And if you’re lucky enough to be working from home--and again that’s clearly not everyone but only the luckier still--you’re discovering that “back” to work seems a little odd when there’s no commuting, when the kitchen table is now your work desk and when you realize that your roommates, partners or family members (again, if you’re still even more lucky enough to be sharing your home office with others) now know what you’re really like at work.
At work, I have a simple motto: “Lead, follow or get out of the way.” In launching a new technology tool at work that some resisted, several years ago I shared some other great work advice from the author Anne Lamott, “Bird by Bird.” (It’s from her 1994 book called, “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life.” In this iconic line, she explains the book’s title and her advice on writing and living, “Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he’d had three months to write. It was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother’s shoulder, and said, ‘Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.’”) A colleague in a leadership role has another great life/work philosophy, “No drama.” Since the start of the coronavirus, I have been reading the UNDERSTANDABLY blog from Bill Murphy Jr. Last week, he recounted a famous mantra in his family, “Rule #1: Don’t freak out”--excellent advice in a pandemic that’s now killing thousands of Americans each day.
One former co-worker had a large banner in her office. It simply read, “Do your job.”
My daughter Annie repeated that line in a Zoom conversation with my kids. It was my son Ted’s theory that everyone wants three things: they don’t want to die, they don’t want to leave their house and they don’t want things to change. Of course, he pointed out, the three are mutually inconsistent--push on the one and the other pops out like the boomer childhood game, Operation. The nurse who needs to stay at home forces another to work a double shift. Ted’s wife, our daughter-in-law Erica, is an ICU nurse in suburban Detroit. She wears PPE every day at work and Ted has purchased protective gear for her from Home Depot and the internet in case her hospital runs out. Annie, a psychiatric social worker at a New York City hospital said simply, “Do your job.”
On Sunday, I asked Annie if she had enough Diet Coke. She told me you could never have enough. I told her that my job on Monday would be to figure out how to order some for her from the internet. You can get Diet Coke on Amazon Prime, limit 2 12-packs. I ordered them for Annie this morning. They’re back-ordered until April 27th.
This morning, as Annie headed back to work, she posted this to her Facebook feed: “People check on your friends that are frontline and facing COVID. I don’t care what they tell you. They are not ok. They are scared everyday they go to work. They are anxious and unable to put their feelings into words. They can’t sleep and are constantly on edge. They are worried about not having the resources they need to provide care to the critically ill. They are worried that their best efforts won’t save your loved ones. They are worried about not having enough PPE to keep them safe and from getting this. Even more, they’re worried they will bring this home to their loved ones. They are living in a constant state of anxiety, fear, and uncertainty and it’s too difficult for them to express this to you. They try not to let you know how they feel so that they don’t worry you but they need you now more than ever. Let them know you are there for them and support them. Copy and paste to let our frontline know we stand behind them and support them!” Sara and I reposted her message to Facebook this afternoon.
In Ohio, the outbreak is not as bad as in neighboring Michigan. Ohio’s Republican Governor Mike DeWine was a national leader in issuing stay-at-home orders, back on March 12th, he announced that he was shutting schools and he postponed the Ohio Primary on March 17th. He did his job.
This weekend, my job was to cut the back lawn for the first time all season. In the garage, I pulled out my lawn mower, a LawnBoy, I bought several years ago because that was the brand my father had when I was growing up. My thoughts turned to my father and his LawnBoy. We used it for decades, him to cut our lawn and me to cut lawns in the neighborhood during high school for money. (In 1997, he took a photo of me as I threw out that old LawnBoy into the dumpster he’d gotten when he was downsizing and moving out of our family house after my mother died in 1996.) Sunday, April 5th, with no winter maintenance, my LawnBoy started on the 4th pull. Do your job.
Bob and Steve Thode’s farewell to the family’s LawnBoy, 1997
This week, again, thousands upon thousands of Americans will die--many of them will be someone’s father or mother as this virus attacks the elderly and infirmed. I’ve talked with Sara and my siblings about that. We miss our parents every day, but we’re glad they are not around for this. They’d be living in fear as they grappled to understand this changed world--and why we were no longer coming to visit them. We also know that we ourselves would be desperately worrying about them if they were still around. As you become an adult with older parents, that becomes your job.
Cutting the lawn in the backyard for the first time of the season is not a pleasant job. We’ve dubbed the backyard “Bed, Bath and Beyond” because the dogs use it every day for exercise--and other necessities. When I went to the garage, I stumbled onto a box of latex gloves that have become a daily staple for so many in this time of corona. I had forgotten that I’d kept some out in the garage for precisely this job: the pick up before the lawn cut. I put on some latex gloves and my outside work shoes that I leave on the garage floor (lovingly called my “Poop shoes”) before heading out to cut the back lawn. A fresh cut lawn is oddly satisfying. My father knew that--and so do I. Do your job.
My LawnBoy and, yes, my poop shoes used for cutting the lawn.
The lawn, before cutting.
The lawn, before cutting with Happy and Stella.
The lawn, after cutting.
Sara’s job this weekend was making masks for the family now that the CDC has recommended that people wear them to stop the spread from people who may have the virus but not know it. At her work, Sara’s told me that she’s shared the following advice with people worried about the typical requirements of normal times. Right now, we all only have one job: Stay alive. If you can, stay inside. Stay away from other people. Stop the spread.
Make a mask.
Wear a mask.
Do your job.
What did NOT happen?
A. My sister Ginny also made masks this weekend. She texted around a picture with the following message, “Height of fashion--when your mask matches the curtains;”
B. Betsy created a homemade mask from a bandana she got when she was a school teacher in Colorado;
C. Sara used Christmas towels to make masks for our family. Why should the towels sit in a tub in the crawlspace for 11 months of the year when they could help stop the spread of coronavirus now?
D. I took a picture of Sara making the masks, but she asked that she not be in the photo. We compromised on showing only her hands; Sara’s masks have different colors for different family members based on the ties that go around your head;
E. My mask is red, for the Phillies. I’ve hung it in a high place so my mask doesn’t infect the others.
Want the answer?
If you subscribe to the quiz, the answer will be sent to you separately each day with each quiz.
Want more?
Here’s the next quiz in the series: Quiz #22. “Social Studies.”
Here’s the previous quiz in the series: Quiz #20. Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
Here’s the first quiz in the series: Quiz #1. Stella and Social Distancing, March 13, 2020
The quiz is explained here: Steve’s Stay-at-Home Coronavirus Quiz.
Here is an archive of all the quizzes.
Want to let me know how I’m doing with this quiz?
Please let me know about any typos or misspellings.
Comments, corrections and confessions welcome.
Thank you and good night.
Thanks for reading.
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for commenting.