The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - Would You Rather Work From Home Or At The Office? Lessons Of The Pandemic.

Episode Date: May 11, 2020

Plus, my list of things eight weeks at home have taught me about myself.

And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here with the latest episode of the Bridge Daily. This is episode number one for week nine. That's right, nine weeks we've been at it now. We're going into the ninth week. We've completed eight weeks. That's 40 podcasts, Monday to Friday. Actually, 41 because we did an extra one, one week on Italy, remember?

So, after eight weeks, it was funny today. I was thinking, eight weeks. Man, it's been a long time. With no immediate end in sight, every once in a while I toy with the idea of, should I keep doing this every day or should we kind of drop back to once a week, now that things are supposedly starting to reopen? I don't know. I think we'll keep going for a little while longer anyway on the daily episode.

But after eight weeks of daily episodes, I'm thinking, what else can I say about these eight weeks that is different for me? And I'm sure each of you have been thinking about this in terms of what's different for you about the eight weeks. And this is the kind of stuff I'm talking about. For me, I cannot remember, at least in the last 25 years, where I've gone eight weeks without being on an airplane. You know, I used to fly to Ottawa a lot, various political things. Vancouver for speeches.

A lot of speeches in Vancouver and Calgary, Halifax. Occasionally Montreal. And, of course, lots of various overseas flights. I'd just been overseas at the end of February. Been in the United Kingdom and in Europe. But for the last eight weeks, I haven't been on an airplane. And I really think it's been at least 25 years since the last time I went that long without being on an airplane.

Pants. Pants. I have worn nothing but sweatpants for eight weeks. I even did a Zoom show, special show, last week where I was kind of dressed, you know, for the camera from the waist up, but had, you know, with a shirt and jacket and everything. But I had sweatpants. And sweatpants is all I've worn for eight weeks. I got lots of pairs of them. And that's what I wear. And usually a hoodie.

Sweatpants and a hoodie. That's my life for the last eight weeks. I cannot remember the last time since perhaps I was in the Navy, and you've got to go back to the 60s, where I've done a laundry, personally, me doing the laundry, every week for eight weeks. I can't remember doing that. And I'm proud to say I've been doing my laundry every week. Podcasts, obviously.

There's a daily podcast. We started daily podcasts during the election campaign last fall, but already we've done more on the coronavirus, on COVID-19, than we did on the election campaign. Audiobooks. I've listened to more audiobooks in the last eight weeks than I think I've ever listened to, total. There's nothing like sitting up

and reading a book in your hand. But audio books are great if you're doing them while you're doing your steps. Speaking of steps, I cannot recall. Well, I don't remember even calculating steps in the past. I think a few times I did when I was golfing in Scotland because I had my phone with me in one of my pockets. And therefore, in fact, even if you have it in the golf bag, it still calculates your steps.

Don't ask me how. I've never figured out how that works. So it was not unusual, especially the way I golf, to knock off 17, 18, 20,000 steps during 18 holes of golf. Over to the left, over to the right, rarely down the middle, all over the place. But now steps, I don't know when it was, four weeks ago, five weeks ago, I did that piece saying, hey, minimum number of steps a day, and we don't think of it usually, but when you're isolated to your home,

you're not really getting a lot of steps, which are good exercise that you don't even think about in your normal day, in normal times. You're knocking off probably 7,000, 8,000 steps in a normal day, just walking around. But normal days for most of us aren't normal anymore. So to get your minimum 4,000 steps, preferably more, like five or six minimum, you've got to get outside.

I go out and walk around the backyard. Occasionally walk around the block or a few blocks. I've never done that before. Every day for eight weeks. Here's one I haven't done. I have never washed my hands this many times in a day. Wash my hands so often that they've got raw from washing with soap. So what does that mean? That means you've got to use hand cream. I've never used hand cream before. I do now. And it works.

I guess many of you knew that already. I didn't. I also drink every day. That doesn't sound right. I also drink every day. I also drink every day a cup of tea with ginger, lemon, and honey in it. It's great. And so when you're listening to the podcast

and you hear these big long pauses, it's not just me trying to think of what I'm going to say next. It's me having a sip of my tea with honey and lemon and crushed ginger. It's good. I haven't done that before either. And Zoom. Zoom calls. I've done quite a few Zoom. I didn't even know what Zoom calls. I've done quite a few Zoom.

I didn't even know what Zoom was eight weeks ago. Now it's, you know, we all know what Zoom is now. And if you don't, you should. There are different types. Zoom is just one of them. But this amazing way, I mean, it's mainly for design for businesses

to hold conference calls, but it's become this great social engager for all of us, especially with families, where we can connect with families and friends. We have Zoom calls with family and friends now. Great dinners.

Like it's great to have a dinner. And everybody's eating their different kinds of meals and talking. That's fun. It's good. And, you know, most of us now are past that can you see me can you hear me okay can you see me do I need to get closer most of us are past that now we're just so kind of like we're veterans at zoom calls

anyway those are you know some of the things that I've thought of. What I'm trying to think of, what am I doing differently? What am I doing that I haven't done before? You know, every day or almost every day for the last eight weeks. Now, if you have some ideas on that front send them in themansbridgepodcast

at gmail.com themansbridgepodcast at gmail.com some things that you're doing you've never done before because of the situation we're in because you're one of those who are kind of staying at home, mostly? Or if you're one of those who, in fact, is an essential worker

and going to work and doing things that you haven't done before? Tell us about it, and I'll share it. Now, you know, a couple of times last week, I mentioned we're on to the big project idea. And, my gosh, a lot of you wrote over the weekend, with your ideas, your big idea for a big project. We're going to kick that off probably Wednesday. Going to start with an interview with former cabinet minister Ralph Goodale

from Saskatchewan who's got a big idea. We're talking big, all right? We're talking big ideas. I watched a documentary this weekend on FDR and the ways, remember last week we talked about FDR, but I watched a documentary on the Great Depression and the ways that FDR tried to get out of that Great Depression and create jobs and possibilities for the millions, I think it was 30 million who lost their jobs in the days, months, and years after the stock market crash of 1929. And part of what he did was create big projects,

big infrastructure programs, big dams, bridges, highways, big stuff. Cost lots of money, created lots of jobs, helped begin the process of getting out of the Great Depression. So, I want more of your ideas on this, the big idea, the big project, something that you can think of. And we're talking, once again, big. Something that would really impact your part of the country or the country as a whole.

What is it? Think big. And drop me a line, the Mansbridge Podcast, gmail.com, the Mansbridge Podcast at gmail.com. Now, there was a story that I saw early last week that I wanted to mention to you but hadn't. And I was reminded of it today because somebody asked me today about, you know, are you enjoying working at home or do you miss working at work? Now, in my case, it's not a problem

because I'm retired, sort of. But for those, many of my friends who are working at home as opposed to going into work, and how do you feel about that? Are you liking it? Would you actually prefer to work from home? Are you still getting as much done? So I read this piece, it was in the New York Times, and there's an interesting split in terms of the way people feel on this issue. So I wanted to actually read some of it to you. Because it's good. And you may be thinking on some of these things yourself. Fans of online work worry that they and the country itself will lose important benefits discovered during this unprecedented experiment in mass remote work. In other words, the things they're discovering about working online from home, they're worried about losing these things. People who've never liked schmoozing with colleagues have found new heights of

productivity away from meetings and office chit-chat. People worried about climate change are eager to reduce their carbon footprints by avoiding commutes by car. And while many parents are desperate for schools and daycare centers to reopen, some working parents are appreciating more time with their children. That's a tough call. And I know that I hear that all the time. How about this one? Before the pandemic, a woman named Christine Riley had to wake up at 4.30 in the morning to catch an early bus to Manhattan. So obviously this is a New York story and it's hard, you know, for the most part to relate to that, although I'm sure some people in bigger cities, Toronto, maybe Vancouver, can relate to this as well.

Anyway, she had to wake up at 4.30 in the morning to catch an early bus to Manhattan where she works as a senior director of a strategy and innovation company for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, I'm better rested, now that I don't have to get up at 4.30 in the morning. I can devote more time to my work, just saving the time and money of commuting. I really like this, personally.

So those are just some of the arguments for working from home. If you could, keep doing that. Here's the other half of the equation. As the Times article says, it didn't take long for naysayers to declare that working from home was overrated. And yes, it is an option mostly for white-collar office workers. Telecommuting is rarely possible for people in manufacturing or service jobs, and for the health workers, emergency responders, grocery store clerks,

and delivery people who have been deemed essential personnel. And the more than 30 million Americans who've lost their jobs since March may be impatient about complaints from people still drawing paychecks. Nor can the other downsides be denied. Trying to meet on Zoom from a kitchen table with bored children and annoyed spouses complaining in the background is hardly good for productivity. Women say that video calls, this is interesting, I hadn't thought of this one and I'd love to hear any women who feel this way. Women say that video calls make it harder for them to get in a word during meetings dominated by men. This crisis has also increased the burdens on working mothers.

Anyway, that's just part of the article. It was in the New York Times last week. I'm sure you can dig it up if you want to read more of it. But it's interesting, this debate about working from home or working from the office. Which is better for the job, for the employer. What's better for you? So if you've got thoughts on that one, send them in to the Mansbridge podcast at gmail.com.

We've got a couple of minutes left. I got a great call on my voice machine on my recorder today. I've been trying, remember Maria Teresa, who we talked to early in this from Italy? She helped us try to understand the dimensions and the depth of the COVID-19 crisis in Italy. And in doing so, she kept saying, it's bad, it's terrible, thousands have died,

thousands will still die, but we have hope that a better day will come. Italy is based on hope, she said. So anyway, I sent her a message earlier today or yesterday, asking her, how are things now? Because it had opened up last Monday. Started to open up last Monday. And Maria Teresa Santaguida responded. She called today at a time when, unfortunately, I couldn't take the call.

And she left a little message saying, hey, I'm available if you want to talk. And I thought the message is great because it kind of captures what's going on there now. And it's for us, remember when we talked to her the last time, we said, this could be Canada in another few weeks. And while we didn't have the depth of the problem Italy had, we did and have suffered greatly from COVID-19. And now there's starting to be talk of opening up, and in some cases the opening up has started.

Well, Italy started last Monday. Okay? So Maria Theresa left a message on my voice machine, and I thought, you know what? It was just left as a message. She wasn't doing like an interview. And it's great because you can tell how much her English has improved in the last month because she's been doing other freelance work as well. And anyway, why don't I just let you hear what she had to say. This was her phone call back to me this afternoon. Hello, Peter. It's nice to hear from you.

Well, there is a lot of issues about the reopening because the first one is that different regions are doing different policies. So some of them decided to reopen, for example, bars and restaurants just on Monday, where whether the others are still mostly closed. Because actually, the pandemic hit in different ways. So it was hardest in the north, the northern Italy. And it was actually lighter in the south so the southern regions are trying to restart you know the southern regions are poorer and their economy economies are based on tourism and services so of course they're also facing lots of problems with the economics and the unoccupation and all these problems. is debating actually on the guidelines. So I think they will write and vote a law in the next days. But different parties, of course, are fighting on the different points. So actually it's not easy at all. How about the pandemic?

I think we're doing well, but as you know, as you maybe know, the effect on the policies can be seen only after a couple of weeks. So we've been open for almost a week from last Monday and we're trying to observe how the phenomenon is going on. So if you need other information, please do not hesitate to call me. And of course, if you need something for your podcast or me to intervene,

I will do it with pleasure, with most pleasure. Hope you're well and please stay safe. Bye, Peter. Maria Teresa Santaguida in Milan, Italy. Love listening to her describe, you know, much more joy in her voice, even though she was very careful to say at the end, we don't know how this is going to turn out, this reopening. It's only been a week, and it takes at least a couple of weeks

before you get a sense of whether it's working or whether there's kind of a snap back to the difficult times of just a few weeks ago. So in many ways, that is kind of what we're going to be going through over this next month, as different parts of the country cautiously begin to slowly reopen, and yet at the same time gauge very carefully, very carefully, what's going on and whether or not there's a backward movement in those numbers. So I thank Maria Teresa for calling back. And I thank you for listening on this day.

I'm Peter Mansbridge. This has been The Bridge Daily. We'll be back in 24 hours.