Well yesterday was super strange. I went back to 'my' office for the first time since March to clear out my desk. No small task as I'd been at the company for 14 years and I'm always afraid to throw things out. I had 2 cupboards, a pedestal and a stack of filing trays to go through.
For 14 years I have commuted to work, spending 2.5-6 hours (there and back) in the car - depending on which office I was travelling to. Whilst I hated the 6 hour commute I didn't ever really think about the shorter commute. Yesterday the journey (shorter commute) seemed absolutely endless.
My office is right by the runway. Just in case you're wondering what today's photo is - it's not a picture of a prison - it's actually a photo of the airport from landside. Not a great photo it turns out, but if you look carefully you can see a whole line of aircraft going nowhere.
It's not high season at the moment, but the airport is normally still very active at this time of year. Taking those people that don't have kids and who want a cheaper holiday away. I was in the office for 5 hours and I only heard one aircraft take off. Others may have taken off that I didn't hear, but we're very close to the runway so you do get used to the sound of aircraft taking off and landing about 700m away.
In fact when there is a missed landing they tend to go straight over the office and there have been occasions everybody has gone quiet waiting to see if this was their final moment. On these occasions (which are rare I'm pleased to say) your coffee shivers like that scene from Jurassic Park with the T-Rex.
I saw a couple of the airline crew in boiler suits - which means they've been doing some of their grubbier training - so some activity is still happening. Apart from that it was just the security guard and one lovely colleague who knew I was coming in and didn't want me to spend my last day in the office alone (how sweet is THAT!). As there's no catering and the kitchens are shut she even went out and bought me a cake and coffee. I shall look at that as my leaving present - and to be fair in my career I've had far worse leaving presents than that.
It's really strange to know that I'll probably not go back there. However, if I'm honest there wasn't a tearful goodbye. It's been such a strange year I think I said goodbye some time ago.
On my last day in the office before lockdown - a Thursday - I'd been doing some filming airside. It was a strange day because COVID was on every-bodies mind. I remember that the airport was absolutely heaving. Unusually so - it must have been people trying to get to where they wanted to be. Because I was flipping between airside and landside I kept having to go through security. I was very aware of what I was touching and kept washing my hands whenever I could.
The monorail that runs between the two terminals was more packed than I'd ever seen it. Usually there's loads of space in there, but on that day it was more like a London tube train in rush hour.
When the day ended I got in my car and suddenly remembered I'd left my water bottle on my desk. I decided I was shattered and just wanted to go home, so left it there to pick up the next day. I had no idea that my next day at the office was going to be 7 months later. Needless to say I'm very pleased to have my water bottle back.
I heard yesterday about lots of other people that have been made redundant. It's such a strange and sad year isn't it. So many lives disrupted. The travel industry is a real community - I know it sounds like a cliche, but it's true. This is why people tend to stay in the industry for years and years.
It is very sad to think that the community that was the office I worked in - where we all knew each other like a family - has just been ripped apart with many people wafting off in new directions without saying goodbye or getting a good send off. It's even sadder to know that the travel industry isn't going to recover for years and years - and who knows if it will ever be the same again.
From a Pollyanna perspective - all of this makes it much easier for me to be one of the 'wafters'. I suspect it's not going to be such a great place to work - not for a while. But they have a great team in place to start the rebuild. I wish them luck (well most of them anyway!).
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