Loneliness in the American Workplace
Recent changes feel bad to me. Am I the only one?
After years of freelancing and working alone at home all day, I was probably due to return to a workplace when the pandemic hit. During the time it took to get through the coronavirus — and the responses to the coronavirus — my isolation became excruciating and I longed for an in-person workplace surrounded by others. Now I’m back in a downtown Chicago office all week long, but I’m just as lonely as ever.
Part of my pain is how no one understands it. You know how an experience feels worse when you feel like you’re the only one going through that experience? Apparently I’m the only one in the entire country (world?) who wishes people would come back to the office. When I talk about my loneliness because of how much time my coworkers spend at home, people give me one of two reactions:
- “I like working from home.”
- “I wish I could work from home.”
I’ve had to ask outright for the person I’m talking to, to please say the words, “That sounds hard for you, Regina.” It’s as if my friends and coworkers can’t see outside of themselves anymore, as if no one can put herself in someone else’s shoes. There are many kinds of pain that elicit an “I’m sorry to hear that.” But my workplace loneliness doesn’t.
