Back to Work

The Pandemic. Remember it?

Facetious question. Of course you do. That time when we all learned Zoom. I have thought a good bit about what that time past has meant to me, my friends, my family, my job, and what it has done to all of us. Nothing too deep here. You know me.

As we have gotten back to a more normal work routine, you all know the things that have changed and what it has meant to us all. Some of us are working remotely a lot now. Nothing wrong with that. Well, something is wrong with that. I used to like to dress well for work. Now, sweatpants are pretty much okay. Yes, I still do work at the hospital, but fewer days, fewer nice clothes. I don’t miss the clothing expense and I have clearly saved money on suits. I am thinking that there was a hit on the economy from people not buying new clothes for the season.

The Pandemic made us all respect personal space. REALLY respect personal space. Mandatory distancing for interpersonal spacing, remember that? One thing I have noticed in our return to normalcy is that a modicum of this distance thing has remained. I really have not been crowded in a line since we started seeing each other again. Some innate memory of not wanting to get too close to everyone — they might be infectious. Score one for humanity and individuals.

Here’s an odd and (at least for me) unexpected post-pandemic item: Tumor board. I am the radiology representative for a tumor board at our institution and we are in hybrid mode now. Yes, some people meet face to face again. But we have lots of folks on the Zoom call, and believe it or not, now we always have someone from any service with reason to be there, and often, several. Not just one voice from radiology, or one voice from pathology, or one from heme-onc, or radiation therapy. Several. That’s another score.

Here’s a thing that I miss. Working remotely doesn’t let me watch clinicians wander into my reading room to steal chocolates. Or grab pens from the reception desk. I’ve contemplated setting up a remote camera to let me still watch these folks.

Keep doing that good work. Mahalo.