In which I go to work. Which is a novelty.
Like many people I've not been into the office for more than a year. It's been open at a few points, but my commute isn't short and all of my team are continuing to work remotely, so going in didn't seem worthwhile.
For various reasons, including a desire to retrieve some things from my locker, I decided to visit the office for a day. This is what happened.
Arranging to go in
I had to do two things before I could go into the office. The first was getting permission. The GDS office has strict procedures in place to protect staff - you have to book a seat, there's a one way system, masks must be worn, no licking door handles - that kind of thing.
I also had to have a conversation with my line manager and fill out some paperwork. This seemed mostly about whether returning to the office was the right choice for me - was my wellbeing affected by working remotely? Would it be advisable for me to return, or could other arrangements be made? For a one day visit, that was mostly irrelevant.
Packing
The other part of getting ready to go in was finding all the things I'd need. This turned out to be much more complicated than I'd imagined.
I'd normally get the train and then cycle, so I needed to find my cycling clothes and bike locks, a task made more difficult by having moved house recently. Some of it was still in boxes.
I also needed to find my building pass, locker key, cycle storage access fob - oh, and book my train fare, something I'd not normally do as I had a season ticket. The whole process took an entire evening.
Travelling
There were hardly any other people in my train carriage. By the time we reached Waterloo there were four of us. Normally it would seat around 50, with around half that again standing.
Waterloo station felt deserted. There were people there, but very few. As I disembarked the train announcer was very friendly, but there was almost a pleading note to his voice - he very much wanted to remind us that they'd be here again tomorrow, still running trains as usual.
Cycling from Waterloo wasn't much different from normal. The road traffic was light, with very few pedestrians about.
London had changed since I'd last seen it. It felt cleaner, somehow, and there were obvious signs of new construction, including the framework of a huge building that I'd never seen before. Also the road leading to the office was completely closed for deep excavation works, so I had to get off and push.
I'd changed too. Having not cycled in a year I couldn't reach my top gear riding up onto London bridge like I used to, and quickly felt saddle sore. But at least there was a new cycle lane there to make me feel safer.
Entering the office
Reception was quiet. One security guard, one person on the front desk, a series of queuing barriers leading into the lifts. I had to check in at reception (normally I wouldn't) and only one of the lifts was available for some reason.
Despite my pass letting me through the barrier to the lifts it didn't let me into my floor, and the person on reception there had to buzz me in. I found my desk and out of the hundreds I could have picked it was the one with the dodgy monitor.
Next I took a stroll around the one way system. It was after 9, but there were only two other people there, plus the same number of cleaners. It was a bit strange.
Clearing out the ol' locker
I was very relieved to discover that despite a year passing all the food in my locker was sealed and free from mold. If you're interested into a glimpse into the psyche of my past self, here's what I found.
- a pair of sneakers
- a jumper
- 3 Snickers bars, a bag of Squashies, a packet of M&Ms, a bag of Tesco mixed nuts, a Blue Riband bar, a Lion bar, and a bag of Chilli Heatwave flavour Doritos
- a wireless mac keyboard and a wireless mac touchpad (with batteries, still functional) and a regular USB mouse
- a plastic cup, that I got on my first day and have been washing and reusing ever since
- a lanyard
- a pile of GDS mission patches
- a carrier bag
- a fork (that I brought in from home, before anyone complains about fork hoarding)
Working in the office
I noticed a couple of things about working in the office again. Firstly, the chairs were a lot more comfortable than I remember.
Secondly, it was a bit rubbish. No one from my team was there. No one I knew was there. I'm quite introverted, but I was looking forward to at least having a small chat with someone about something. Two people I knew were supposed to be in the office that day, but for various reasons weren't.
Everyone I spoke to (over video calls) was fascinated to know what the office was like, but no one else seemed to have any plans to go back anytime soon.
Going home
After I'd done what I came for there didn't seem much point in hanging around, so I got back on my bike, hopped on the train, and worked from home for the rest of the afternoon.
I'm definitely not fit anymore. The extra weight on my back from my locker contents reduced my cycling to a crawl on the way home, particularly where there was any kind of hill.
Central London was still a ghost town, even at lunchtime on a Monday. It was strange. I can understand why people might miss working in the office and I'd even thought along those lines myself, but I'm not so sure now.
Unless everything returns completely to normal I don't think working in the office full time will be practical or enjoyable. I'm not sure I remember how I managed it before. And I'm not even sure what normal is anymore, either.
