After Work
There was a Slate article that people kept sharing a few weeks ago capturing what we used to do after work because work had a clear end-point. Before technology became commonplace and everyone was expected to have a cell phone and computer at home, work mostly stayed at work, except for a few jobs. Sure, I could grade papers after work, but I generally didn’t drag work home. Work stayed at work, so there was a time after work.
Slate captured what happened before, during, and after work in the age before cell phones:
Sean: We really would just drive to someone’s house and see what they were doing. You and a couple people would be in the car and you’d be like, “Let’s go by Brian and Mike’s.”
Matt: Either we’d made plans or we’d just go to the same few places. During the week it was the Front Page in Dupont and GG Flips, or on Thursdays or Fridays it was Lulu’s on M Street. Someone I knew would be there.
Enjoy the whole article.
2 comments
I’ve been really lucky that most of my work life was like that. And I hated having work at home, so would stay late to finish things. Going home was a refuge, and I liked to keep it like that. I think our generations were lucky in that we learned good work practices – how to switch off. Whereas the younger ones, who have always had cellphones, haven’t yet known how to set clear boundaries. Or maybe it has something to do with work environments in the US too.
You’ve reminded me of when I first got my cellphone. I might just have to write a blog post about it.
Ha! I was never like that – but then I’ve worked 4 day weeks since 1996. Once I’m home from work, I’m done for the day! I don’t work at home after work, but I don’t want to go out either. I’ve always been a slug…