KEITH T. DENNETT | New South | CONTACT
Standing in the tea room of her CBD office, Jenna McWilliams can’t help but daydream about the joys of lockdown.
An anxious introvert who can’t think of anything worse than being crammed into an office with 300 equally dull co-workers, Jenna was the type of person who really enjoyed the quiet solitude afforded to her during the pandemic, when she got to work from home all week without a single interaction with another human being.
But now, having been ordered to return to working five days a week in a stuffy office block with no windows, the first few months of this year are what Jenna would describe as hell.
It’s not just the 90-minute commute that annoys her, or the fact she has to suffer the indignity of pouring a can of tuna onto some rice cakes in the communal kitchen. It’s the fact she can’t go two minutes of her day without someone forcing conversation upon her.
And now, as she pours a “Strong Cappuccino” coffee sachet made up of maltodextrin, glucose syrup, and milk solids into a personality-less mug and adds some scalding hot water, the smell alone of “gourmet instant coffee mix” is enough to remind her of the glorious days of 2020.
“I just miss it, ya know? Taking a nap all afternoon, working in my pajamas, spending half my work time playing Overwatch…” Jenna told our reporter.
“Back then, my only colleagues were my cat Miffy and my new peace lily from Woolies, and I didn’t even have to talk to them if I didn’t want to.”
“I guess the plus side of coming into the office is there’s no Zoom trivia on a Friday. F*ck, that was excruciating…”
