Pandemic Stories
The past year (or two) has been really tough for everyone with most having to work from home to fight the pandemic. As soon as the new normal began, most folks began to wonder how this would affect their mental health and I still remember a meme that said this would be the best time to live for an introvert. Being a not-so-social person, I found that offensive to be honest though but I laughed (smirked).
Talking about that trait about me…well anyone who is blessed to know me will tell you that I am one of the most silent ones in the pack. You wouldn’t find me jumping across the table or cracking a joke and bursting out in laughter in a room. But am I an introvert? Nope. I have seen that kind and I am not it. So now since I don’t have to put a fake face every morning to my colleagues as I am in the comfort of my home, I was a bit nervous too. Will I be able to adjust in the new game?
The initial phase was a bit daunting for me, especially during those Skype calls where there is a whole bunch of people in a chat and I have to wrestle my fingers with the mute/unmute button. Frankly, I did get lost in between those calls as it was very tough for me to get my voice heard in the EXTROVERT conversations! The thing is in my workplace, even if you know nothing about the topic you need to blabber something or else you’re out. I know, it did felt as if I was doing one of those singing auditions.
But with the long-distance work came the emergence of a new phenomenon…Memes. Yup, everyone loves a bit of humor, and what better way to put it than post some pictures with which everyone can relate to. Those goofy office moments, the mistakes you made in that all important project…they are not so stressful now. These seemingly negative ingredients were somehow transformed into reasons for everyone in the team to laugh about. And I noticed that my colleagues were enjoying every meme I was posting. Gradually, I managed to build a reputation of being a memer, and now people whose faces I can’t even remember knows me!
I took the new opportunity to socialize and connect with people from not just across the office but also from folks from the other part of the world. The way I could build up my confidence from such a silly thing was truly amazing. I am not sure if this thing was worth sharing but hey the whole experience put a smile on a lot of faces including myself and I hope it put one on yours too reading this. Do you have a story to share? Do tell me…