Of all the dumb things I’ve heard from panic-mongers since COVID began, this is some of the absolute dumbest. David Doel of The Rational National breaks it down:
Notice how the furniture company ad uses a model that looks like a woman well past retirement age. Are they insinuating that we should all be schlepping our butts to an office when we’re in our 70s and 80s? Because that’s the message I’m getting. I don’t think that’s the one they meant to send!
On a more serious note, though: I’ve been working from home for literal decades now. And no, I don’t look like “Anna”. My back isn’t hunched, my hands haven’t turned into claws, and my eyes aren’t red and swollen. Because when you’re not chained to a desk, and no one is breathing down your neck and forcing you to stay there, you soon realize how great it feels to get up and walk around on a regular basis. You can use the bathroom when you need to; no need to schedule those breaks (or get chewed out if you need more toilet time than the company allots). And also, you can stretch without fear of others seeing it. I don’t walk a few measly steps to and from boring-ass meetings where grey-faced people sit around mindlessly consuming coffee and doughnuts while someone drones on about productivity and goals; I actually get outside to walk for as long as an hour a day, weather permitting, which is great for my sanity. I don’t have to pay health-club fees or spend hours staring at the dull walls of a gym; I get out into my garden and grow my own veggies, herbs, and berries. I also get in regular naps, which does wonders for both one’s eyes and one’s posture (and again, sanity). And I prepare my own meals, which are balanced and healthy. I rarely eat fast food, and I haven’t seen the inside of a cafeteria since I graduated university.
And what’s the outcome of all this? Well, it is awfully nice to hear your doctor tell you that your blood test values are all excellent. And it’s great to look in the mirror and see someone who looks like you, and not some lame 3-D model of whoever you’re supposed to turn into if you don’t drag yourself through countless hours of commuting and office-bound grinding.
If anything, the folks who keep those silly office-furniture manufacturers in business should be the ones worrying about looking like “Anna”. Because working in an office at an unsustainable pace during a pandemic — or even just at all — is far more likely to make you look like that than working from home ever will.
