I started my dream job in the middle of a pandemic. I gave my two weeks’ notice over the phone because an email felt impersonal. As I shared the news on conference calls over the week, I thought about the people who I wouldn’t be able to say goodbye to—the woman I usually ran into when grabbing my coffee in the morning, the guy who always hung out in the break room in the afternoon, or the friendly faces I occasionally shared greetings with in the hall.
Since we started working from home in March, I lost touch with these people—the ensemble cast of characters who were there as human touch points throughout the day. When they eventually return to the office, I won’t be there—I now work at Monday Night Brewing in Atlanta as their social media coordinator.
For the last few years, I had dreams of working in the beer industry full-time as a writer. I wasn’t exactly sure how this opportunity would present itself, but I believed that one day I would get there.
When the coronavirus rolled into the U.S. and breweries started to close taprooms, I placed my dream on hold. Breweries were focused on staying afloat, furloughing employees, and looking for ways to pivot. Finding a full-time writing job in the industry wasn’t likely to happen in the middle of a pandemic—but against the odds, it did.
Since I will continue to work from home in my new role, I rearranged my office—placing my desk in a Zoom-friendly position—to mark this big change in my life within the same office space. One day, I’ll return to office life, but at a different job with an entirely new group of coworkers. We’ll have practice working together virtually, but the in-person collaboration will be new, slightly different from how we interacted in the beginning. We’ll have the chance to get to know each other in a way that goes beyond video calls and Slack messages. And while I'll be able to make up for lost time with my new coworkers, I've lost the chance to give my former ones a true goodbye.
