Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/11/20/what-realtors-are-finding-in-empty-offices-right-now.html
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We were allowed back into the office in August to get our stuff. We each got our assigned time to go in to minimize contact.
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This is hilarious. I went back to my office to pick up a Yubikey I needed this summer and found a box of cereal I had in my desk (for those days you just don’t have time to make breakfast). It had a hole chewed out of the bottom (obviously mousey).
I had a discussion with my daughter the other day about how long it would take for our planet to heal and what it would look like if suddenly every human disappeared. I can’t wait until she’s old enough to view “12 Monkeys”, but that’s still a few years off.
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Office Park Wet Market! Growing the bacteria and viruses for the future!
I took all my plants and snacks home the day I fled our office. We rotate, going in once a week to help keep things running.
There’s a good book on that topic: “The World Without Us” by Alan Weisman
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Came by for…
… thanks for posting.
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We were allowed back in our office by appointment (one at a time) after a while, and I took advantage of that to pack up as though I’m never going back. This was June and it was clear to anyone paying attention at that point that this thing will be a year long, at least. The office looked like Pompeii. We’d gotten the order to evacuate very suddenly in the middle of the day, with no warning. There was an email earlier in the week saying “we’re considering remote options and keeping an eye on the situation”. Then one day mid morning, it was “Everybody Out Now”. I suspect they found a positive case or something because of the suddenness. Anyway our office looked just like the OP describes. Food, paperwork, stuff just abandoned in progress…like Pompeii.
It was also very musty and punishingly hot (on a mild day) because the A/C hadn’t run in weeks. People don’t appreciate how much office buildings depend on A/C to be inhabitable.
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When our office was closed down during the initial lockdown, we were able to do so gracefully. (People packed up their personal food stashes, we turned off and drained the Keurigs, etc. Of course, there’s a few exceptions, and when I went back in a month or so later to escort a vendor doing preventative maintenance on the HVAC gear, the first thing I did was clean out the fridge into a trash bag, which got yeet’d into the closest dumpster. (I was a janitor in a previous job, so there’s not a whole lot that will squick me out.)
There’s people in the office on the regular at present, but most of us are still working from home.
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There has been a bag of apples in my desk drawer since February, unless it has escaped or is cider.
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We’re still not allowed back. The only thing I really want is my dad’s hand-painted name plate from his stint in the Navy in WWII.
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My cubicle plant has been unattended to since March, but it’s spikemoss so it’ll be good for another five years or so.
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I have not been back in my office since February. If I had known I was going to be working from home I would have grabbed several more things. I was sick for a couple of days and then I was hearing that we might have to work from home for a while so I went in on a Sunday and grabbed my laptop and come of my other equipment - circuit boards, a USB hub, and some other things. Unfortunately I didn’t take my extra displays, office chair, mechanical keyboard, trackpad, USB power adapter, and other things. I haven’t been back in the building since. I really loved having that office because it was private and quiet. I considered it the best perk of my job. Working at home with my kids screaming is sub-optimal.
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I expect to find a family of racoons settling down in my office…on the 13th floor…in lower Manhattan.
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“You have Oompa Loompas?”
“Nah, those are Sour Patch Kids that have been here so long they came to life.”
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Since we’re all talking about leaving our offices:
The last day I worked a full day in the office was March 10th where I opted to work from home after, gathering some things to carry home that day. This was the last day I took my commute of the California Line cable car and Alameda ferry.
On Sunday March 15th, I went into the office to look at my desk and answer the question: “What do I need for the next month?” I was the only one in the office and brought my car to drive the bigger things. While packing I was listening to the radio where Governor Newsom announced the first real restrictions state wide (SF had some in place already).
In July, I visited the office one more time. While the company was already considering reducing one of the two office spaces, COVID made it clear that they would not have an office at all moving forward. I grabbed the rest of stuff that was nice to have and a few extra equipment the company was letting go.
In October I left the company for another always remote company. Who knows when I’ll ever see a office again.
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Oh…oh god…
From the thumbnail I though this was tomatosoup with parsley…
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“It’s a delicate ecosystem… Like the rainforest… And opening the red door will DESTROY THE RAINFOREST JEN!”
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i’m in central texas and work at an office that usually has 450-500 people in house. now there are 32 people. those who don’t have, won’t have or can’t have internet at their abode. to gain access to the building a senior executive has to send clearance to security. as of yesterday our keys won’t even work the front lobby doors. thankfully those at the office have adopted all the office plants and they have sectioned the building into teams for watering. bless their souls.
my employer is the home office of a large life insurance company and from day one corporate has taken this very seriously. just today i caused my plumber pause when he made a snarky remark about the Rona and I told him that I’m working from home because my company sends out the checks and sadly, claims has been busy. we know that it’s real and that it is no joke.
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After months of bitter fighting, the roaches and the rodents came to a hard won peace. They forged a new thriving civilization…in my office building.
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