Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Today's Gonna Be Crowded

I work in a row of five seats, of which I'm at one end.  We have not been using all five seats for a long, long time.  That's a good thing, because in cases where we're at four or fewer, the desk next to me (to my right) is the one that's usually empty.  That lets me manspread; I put my bag on it so I can take my satellite radio stuff out, and sometimes I put my bookbag up on there too so I can take out my radio and headphones.

We have not been full-up because of people leaving.  Up until recently, in fact, there were only two people, sitting two and three seats away from me -- a safe and comfortable physical distance.  Sure, those two had to come around me to send the folders into the lab, but I take my blessings where I can, and I like that there was no one sitting around me for eight (now four) hours a day.

That has changed.  The department was able to staff up before the coronavirus pandemic.  And now that she's fully trained in, there is a third person who has moved into the row.  And finally, yesterday I was told that the veteran of our group, who has had surgery and was on extended leave, has come back.  Don't know why; the workload is such that I myself could do the work for the entire row on my own every day.  But when I go into work today, all four of those seats in my row will now be filled, including the one right next to me.  The person who will be sitting there (the other four rotate) will be bother me -- through no fault of her own, I'll be scared to breathe in her virus droplets.  Hell, I won't know where I can put my bags while I sanitize my desk.

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