Was Social Distancing Always An Option? (GSU Blog Post #3)

One of the few silver linings which has come from the otherwise tragic COVID-19 pandemic is our collective reflection on our social and workplace norms in this country. For the sake of safety and self-preservation, most governors and mayors have implemented some sort of shelter-in-place order for “non-essential” workers across the nation, leaving many unemployed, but an even larger portion of the workforce logging into Zoom and hopping onto conference calls from home. While I think we can all agree that going out recreationally is missed dearly and should come back as soon as responsibly possible, this situation makes me ask the question: Was social distancing always an option?

I’m not sure if there’s a clear answer to this question, or that there will be for a very long time. It seems that companies and organizations have done their best to transition their business to an online format of some kind, with universities and school systems doing the same. Besides disrupting the social norms of going into work and school for forty hours a week, could we always have done this? Working from home offers both freedoms and challenges, but in this post, I’m going to make the argument that in-person interaction and working is better in the long-term than socially distant contributions.

The sense of purpose and belonging associated with working or learning amongst colleagues cannot be replicated through chatrooms or instant messages. It is too easy to become distracted, fall out of routine, and not have access to the necessary technologies to get work done when working from home. Even in my practice, digital content writing and marketing, I enjoy interacting with others and communicating in-person as much as possible. As social creatures, interaction is a necessity - and that’s coming from an a very introverted person.

So yes, we probably could have been socially distancing all this time, especially with recent advancements in technology and computing power. It’s my belief, however, that solely working from home is damaging for some, as it removes much-needed social interaction and that there are too many difficulties associated with conducting business remotely in the long-term. Hopefully we can get back in-person, in a safe and responsible way, as soon as possible. Now go wash your hands and maybe put on some actual clothes while you’re at it so that jeans aren’t such a shock to the system once all this blows over. Thanks for reading.