In the face of COVID-19, work life at Broadstreet has faced considerable disruption – we hope that we have managed to keep our clients from feeling the brunt of it though. Although we never had a shelter in place order here in BC, everyone worked from home for several months. During that time, I continued working on my own in the office—well, not completely on my own, Frankie kept me company. And while I confess, as the mother of a toddler in perpetual motion, the peace of the empty office was sometimes a relief, Frankie definitely felt the loss of the team. In particular, in his stomach, and his weight loss quickly became obvious with his secret snacking enablers absent.
For a while, most work was going on over Zoom, which was not without its hiccups, from the usual sound problems and people joining the wrong meetings to background serenades from guitar playing spouses. Fortunately, as we tend not to use the video function, we have managed to avoid more embarrassing blunders. One thing Zoom hasn’t improved upon is our singing. It’s a Broadstreet tradition sing Happy Birthday to team members on their special day (as well as eat birthday cake, which contributes to poor Frankie’s weight gain). With COVID, we’ve had to let the cake go but we’ve tried to keep up with the singing over Zoom. The results are best not discussed…
Happily (or in Frankie’s case ecstatically), with the recent easing of restrictions in our home province, we have been able to welcome more people back in the office, though part-time, on staggered days and with appropriate distancing. I was actually surprised by the number of people that were keen to start working from the office again – with those with kids being the first volunteers. Just observing an association, not suggesting a cause! And now, the abundance of nut-based milks and hot sauces that have made their way back into our work fridge speaks to how many of our team have happily come back to the office. So many, in fact, that we are getting larger office space to make sure everyone can be safe and comfortable in their time at work.
Compared to other parts of the world we have been relatively fortunate here in Vancouver, so far, in terms of numbers of cases and COVID-mortality. This has probably been down to a mix of luck and good leadership (our province’s public health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, has become something of a folk hero, with designer shoes named after her and murals painted in her honour). But now we, along with the rest of the Northern hemisphere, are anxiously waiting to see what a return to school will bring. We just wanted to say to our clients and friends, we appreciate their solidarity and patience as we manage our part of this crisis and will continue to offer the same in return.
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