Officing Alone

Peggy Noonan makes a point about the breakdown of community that could have been lifted from 'Bowling Alone'. But she talking about remote work and the end to office-time:

The primary location of daily integration in America—the coming together of all ages, religions, ethnicities and political tendencies, all colors, classes and conditions—has been, during the past century, the office. It is where you learn to negotiate relationships with people very different from you, where you discover what people with different experiences of life really think. You discern all this in the joke, the aside, the shared confidence, the rolled eyes. And with all this variety you manage to come together in a shared, formal mission: Get that account, sell that property, get the story, process those claims.

Daily life in America happened in the office. If it doesn’t, where will America happen?

And, this being a political column, my second worry. The end of the office will contribute to polarization. Receding from office life will become another way of self-segregating. People will be exposed to less and, in their downtime, will burrow down into their sites, their groups, their online angers. Their group-driven information and facts.

 

Comments

[Davod]

The Ace animal hi-jinks post is included below for your information.

https://ace.mu.nu/archives/400234.php

[Davod]

The front door video gives the homeowner a scare.

https://youtu.be/QNGkPUiY1C0
Top

[Davod]

Porto by Jaoa Cabral

http://ace.mu.nu/archives/PortoJoaoCabral.jpg

[Davod]

Berlin, 1896. Color added by "Nineteenth Century Videos Back to Life."

https://twitter.com/i/status/1554097771065446405

[Davod]

Ace nightlightengscape

http://ace.mu.nu/archives/8%201%200nt.jpg

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

No one is self segregating.
The progs are looking to forcefully and permanently replace the greatest civilization in history with a stupider and even more immoral verson of their umpteenth iteration of prog utopianism that always ends in mountains of corpses.
The normals are being forcefully and involuntarily segregated into ghettos of the disfavored deplorables.
We the sane no more self segregate than the Untouchables of Calcutta do.

[Dave (in MA)]

Receding from office life will become another way of self-segregating. People will be exposed to less and, in their downtime, will burrow down into their sites, their groups, their online angers. Their group-driven information and facts.

Their hysterical crap that makes them support the guy from the other party.

[JimNorCal]

First!
Well, ok, not first but I did tell Davod that there was a new thread ... so I COULD have been first.

[anonamom]

Reminder--you do have a place that is always open for your comments (once james d allows you in):

elevendayempire.com/JOM2

[jim nj]

https://amgreatness.com/2022/07/31/are-the-new-progressive-rules-reciprocal/
Are the New Progressive Rules Reciprocal?
Are today’s norms tomorrow’s norms?

It would be great fun.

[jim nj]

Reminder--you do have a place that is always open for your comments (once james d allows you in):

Making your way in the world today
Takes everything you've got
Taking a break from all your worries
Sure would help a lot
Wouldn't you like to get away?

All those nights when you've got no lights
The check is in the mail
And your little angel
Hung the cat up by its tail
And your third fiance didn't show

Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name
And they're always glad you came
You want to be where you can see
Our troubles are all the same
You want to be where everybody knows your name

Climbing the walls when no one calls
You've lost at love again
And the more you're down and out
The more you need a friend
When you long to hear a kind hello

Roll out of bed, Mr. Coffee's dead
The morning's looking bright
And your shrink ran off to Europe
And didn't even write
And your husband wants to be a girl

Be glad there's one place in the world
Where everybody knows your name
And they're always glad you came
You want to go where people know
People are all the same
You want to go where everybody knows your name

Where everybody knows your name
And they're always glad you came
Where everybody knows your name
And they're always glad you came
Where everybody knows your name
And they're always glad you came
Where everybody knows your name

[henry]

Office life is bizarre today. My long term employees insist on work from home. My new employees want to work in the office, but show up in shorts and all wear backpacks. Same throughout the office building. I feel like a caveman with my briefcase.

[sbwaters]

Gee, I thought one met diversity on playgrounds, in schools, in churches, in stores, and all sorts of other activities well before one entered an office.

But, then, I’m not a pundit, so what do I know. :-)

[Neo]

Breitbart:
"... Officials within the administration of leftist President Joe Biden have
not confirmed al-Zawahiri’s death on the record at press time..."
https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2022/08/01/report-u-s-kills-al-qaeda-leader-ayman-al-zawahiri-drone-strike/
spot on

[Neo]

Seems like everyone is interested in tracking Pelosi's flight to Taiwan (callsign SPAR19) that Flightradar24 (aircraft tracking site) is being crushed.

Explains why I lost all air traffic in Eastern Europe this morning.

[Neo]

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/SPAR19

[Rocco]

Zawahiri must have 9 lives, this is the third time I've read about his demise.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--Gee, I thought one met diversity on playgrounds, in schools, in churches, in stores, and all sorts of other activities well before one entered an office.--

Excellent point, SB. Most people have families and live in neighborhoods with neighbors too. Many of them think differently.
Noonan as usual has things precisely wrong. We are not experiencing two equal extremes pulling apart. Historically and traditionally there was nothing extreme in Donald Trump's agenda. As I've pointed out before most of it was to the left of the sainted JFK.
We have an extreme, pernicious, radical, political ideology animating one side of the country and that ideology despises everything about America and what it stands for. That ideology will not tolerate opposition or power sharing. It seeks to rule us and to squelch dissent. The Noonans [and frankly the TMs] of the world who treat traditional American values and this extreme prog ideology as equally radical and seek to find a comfortable middle ground [that the progs find politically useful for now but will ultimately never tolerate] between the two are in a denial that refuses to acknowledge the political reality before them. By doing so they empower the radicals that much more and weaken what they know is virtuous and what makes this country free and great. Such is the power of enforced conformity, cultural pressure and social costs in an increasingly oppressive society.

[Rocco]

Here's one report on Zawahiri's death from 2020.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8970231/Al-Qaedas-leader-Ayman-al-Zawahiri-died-reports-claim.html

[Dave (in MA)]

He got better.

[Rick Ballard]

I suspect Ms. Noonan had no exposure whatsoever to basic and advanced military training. That aside, she made no case for a significant societal benefit to be derived from forced exposure to others, who may or may not be able to differentiate between something as basic as good and evil.

Henry remarked long term employees marked desire to work from home rather than endure the banal forced civility induced by confinement with others.

Perhaps they have gained all they ever might want from forced association?

[sbwaters]

Although retired, I still wander into the office from time to time. On any day, let the work to be done decide the location.

Even if I were out of material and on deadline I would not stoop to Noonanisms.

[clarice]

I do think working from home diminishes most workplaces, but then they already were by policies that prevented people from speaking freely enough to joke with each other and show ordinary affection.Everything might trigger some neurotic to file a claim for conduct which was neither discriminatory nor sexist.

[henry]

Now they do those things in chat... so lawyers have a preserved record.

[Rick Ballard]

Clarice,

Every meritless diversity hire and/or promotion sows another "discrimination" mine in the office. It is simply much safer to avoid the minefield by working from home and focusing on being more productive. The current WH/Executive wave of departures continues to assure us of the existence of self preservation instinct through avoidance of association with true incompetents.

[matt - deplore me if you must]

Offies were where you went to escape the chaos at home. Kids screaming, chores beckoning..

You escaped to your cube or your office and could interact with other adults.

Now the office is a minefield; germs, woke ideology, a boss watching....

Before the rise of the clerical class people didn't work in offices for the most part. We were agrarian or working class. Then came the typing pools and stenography and the rest. Then came the quest for the corner office.

Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.

[matt - deplore me if you must]

I have close to a million dollars in inventory ready to ship to customers in the US and Europe sitting in Taipei at the moment. Not a great feeling.

But China is asshoe.

[MissMarple2]

Unbelievably, I owned an iPad mini which I found in a stack of books. Totally forgot about it, sort of like my trip to
Rome! That first seizure must have been a doozy!

Nicest guy here is this big black ex-Marine and fork lift operator from the old Alison Engine plant. Vietnam vet and about 6'5" and probably 300 lbs. lol! I am charged with bringing him some cigs when I go out this afternoon. I could make good money running a black market here!

[clarice]

Are you in your new home, MM?

[jimmyk]

We are not experiencing two equal extremes pulling apart.

Yes, Noonan's moral equivalence on this is wrongheaded, and she misses the deeper problem Matt and Clarice point out about the degradation of office life prior to the stupid lockdowns that made people afraid to speak their minds.

I agree with her broader point that something important is lost when people work in isolation. To Rick's point ("Perhaps they have gained all they ever might want from forced association?"), that may be true of people over 40, say, but the younger people entering the work force are missing out. But the solution is not as simple as going back to the office. The first thing that has to happen is to clean out all the wokeness, DEI, ESG crap so that the office is productive again, and not a minefield for people worrying about getting fired for saying the wrong thing as dictated by HR diversity experts.

[Narciso]

yes they seem to reaching the mental sterility of thx 1138, a niche entertainment that's why lucas went for wider appeal

https://redstate.com/bonchie/2022/08/02/ron-desantis-delivers-perfect-response-to-request-from-the-view-for-an-interview-n605799

[Narciso]

was anything this chick said true, rhetorical,

https://thefederalist.com/2022/08/02/cassidy-hutchinson-reportedly-worked-for-trump-nine-weeks-after-he-left-office/

[Narciso]

douglas adams was right,

https://www.news18.com/news/world/exclusive-this-is-a-good-gesture-says-taliban-minister-haqqani-on-cricket-ties-with-india-5674531.html

cricket was a commemoration of a long ago alien battle,

[Narciso]

fwiw,

https://nypost.com/2022/08/02/saif-al-adel-likely-to-become-al-qaedas-next-chief/

[Davod]

The RAAF Band plays the Top Gun Anthem. The video includes some great RAAF aviation shots.

https://youtu.be/De_DgeLDXVg

[Narciso]

slicing with a broad sword,

https://flvoicenews.com/paypal-unfreezes-moms-for-liberty-funds-after-desantis-announces-crackdown-on-woke-banking/

[Davod]

Narciso. When I first arrived in DC, I was checking out the TV stations looking for cricket. I thought I had hit the jackpot when I came across channel 56 which had a lot of international shows. I was able to watch part of an India-Pakistan game. They are pretty serious over there. 10-foot barbed wire fencing to keep the fans separate from the players.

Your statement about cricket was partially correct.

cricket is war by another name.

[Narciso]

it seems harmless but not really,

https://www.cricketcountry.com/articles/towel-day-remembering-douglas-adams-26939

[Davod]

Narciso. Re your India/Taliban Cricket post.

It's simple politics.

[Narciso]

she should ask her colleagues, raskin and thompson about that,

https://twitter.com/marklevinshow/status/1554295845641650178

[MissMarple2]

Clarice,

Yes, am in my new facility and am enjoying the stability and lack of helpful advice. Sister #2 came and took me to Home Goods (affiliated with Marshal's) and she bought me a bedspread and some towels for an early birthday present. I had never been there and it was pretty neat - attractive merchandise. What was funny was every big, attractive to display had signs reading "Made in India". Coincidentally most of the clerks seemed to be Indian. There were Chinese goods as well, but sort of hidden on the bottom shelves. I guess the Asian trade wars are moving into Midwest suburbs.

[Davod]

Narciso. Thanks for the cricket link.

[Davod]

Cricket explained (16 mins)

https://youtu.be/NZGLHdcw2RM

[Davod]

I am listening to Two Steps From Hell - Victory, on Youtube.

One of the comments reads: Whoever dislikes this should take a covid test because one of the symptoms is lack of taste.

https://youtu.be/hKRUPYrAQoE

[Davod]

Lounge car of the original Orient Express

http://ace.mu.nu/archives/interioroftheorientexpress.jpg

[Davod]

Baby otters make friends with a puppy

https://twitter.com/i/status/1554557230355062785

[Davod]

Teamwork

https://twitter.com/i/status/1552832530864164868

[Davod]

What is going on

https://twitter.com/i/status/1554158864840511495

[Davod]

The never-ending game

https://twitter.com/i/status/1554185992994701314

[Davod]

Dog joins in singing

https://youtu.be/MtFN-TKQ8Tk

[Davod]

Best Buddies

https://twitter.com/i/status/1554289854959144960

[Davod]

Laws of physics do not apply to goats..🐐🧱🤯

https://twitter.com/i/status/1554124796002189314

[Davod]

Magic didn't work this time

https://twitter.com/i/status/1553798395176689666

[Davod]

Tea is being served now..🐕🐾☕😅

https://twitter.com/i/status/1553192402105425920

[Davod]

Balance

https://twitter.com/i/status/1554184282477924354

[Neo]

in the Netherlands now it's very clear that there is a good correlation between the number of [COVID] vaccinations that are given to people and the number of people that die within a week after that. So let's say in this week we gave 10,000 vaccinations. Then in this week, we have something like 125 excess in death in that week
https://rwmalonemd.substack.com/p/data-doesnt-lie-mrna-vaccines-and

[Davod]

Ace landscape

http://ace.mu.nu/archives/8%202%200nt.jpg

[Davod]

A Galah

https://www.facebook.com/reel/5405306639590567/?s=single_unit&__cft__[0]=AZUhhQgKenvKSovc4AoOXJdfgyzdpLvITU2ItgBXqzHqDZcca7Nrd7XtfnNCOwa92J5B4RV3SxiAYAayKD8d9Cn_XuMsF0ipriUGAXehX_oeQWCorUztxo2NUnhUtnMm_zB97k-GX6X3YMxC4NqWihX4Vh9W5W3uNTKiSM5jC8a7lyIcIGiM1Q5ek9VVcmFCF8gPYQJnIMI76VfVBaEJRnfUrHHIXBQJXqroJjq7YIY9FQ&__tn__=H-R

[Jim Eagle]

Davod,

Did you say Cricket?

My great~great grand father was The Non-Pariel bowler, Old Lilly and two great- uncles, James and John and their cousin James,Jr. John was my name sake.

More later. Sleep calls!

[Davod]

Jim Eagle. Bloody hell. That's a lot of history there.

[Davod]

Jim Eagle.

Cricket explained (16 mins) is a great video, because it shows how the game has changed to where they now have 20 overs a side matches that take about three hours. Additionally, India is now where it's at because it can get a TV audience of one billion per game.

https://youtu.be/NZGLHdcw2RM

[clarice]

What good news, MM. Best to you.

[Davod]

"Festival Overture on the National Mall

Saturday, August 6 at 8PM (rain date 8/7). The U.S. Army Band is bringing the show to the National Mall for our traditional end-of-summer special event. The event is FREE. We recommend registering on Eventbrite to receive reminders and rain date information."

https://www.usarmyband.com/overture-1812

[jim nj]

Three assessments of the Ukraine war:

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1554647160804851712.html

https://militaryland.net/ukraine/invasion-day-160-summary/

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-august-2

[jim nj]

Davod,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lillywhite

Jim Eagle's ancestors.

[clarice]

End of summer==already??

[Davod]

jim nj. Thanks. They looked good in white top hats.

[Pinandpuller]

Ah yes: America as a multicultural strip mall, bringing people together to worship Mammon. That’s exactly what the Founding Fathers envisioned, Peggy Noonan.

[Pinandpuller]

Speaking of multiculturalism, I’d like to buy Jim Acosta a gift certificate to Denny’s: https://youtu.be/ZGZYeD3BBYI

[Davod]

Vin Scully on socialism.

https://twitter.com/ClayTravis/status/1554686235679068160

[Melinda]

Ryan Saavedra
@RealSaavedra
BREAKING: U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-IN) has been killed in a crash

https://twitter.com/RealSaavedra/status ... 0005486592

[bubarooni]

I have a theory on why people might prefer to work from home:

Keeps you from having to interact with the HR dept peeps in the hall:

"Hi Buba! I noticed you were on the list of employees who haven't logged in and completed the assigned training session 'Interfacing with people you don't like."

"You'll find that taking the lessons therein and implementing them in your daily human interpersonal interactions will raise your managers score!"

The worst thing that ever happened to american business culture was when they renamed the Personnel Dept the Human Relations Dept.

[DCSCA]

Ohhhh, you better watch out, you better not cry
You better not pout, I’m telling you why
Donald Trump’s returning to town
He’s making a list and checking it twice
He’s gonna payback who’ve been naughty or nice
Donald Trump’s returning to town
You see him when you’re sleeping
He’s there when you’re awake
He bugs you when he’s bad or good
Which is good for goodness’ sake!
Oh, you better watch out, you better not cry
Better not pout, I’m telling you why
Donald Trump’s returning to town!

[Davod]

I just clicked on a T-shirt site by mistake. This one said 'five reasons I need a gun.' followed by:

1. I
2. don't
3. need
4. a
5. reason

[Davod]

An Aussie got confused:

https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/ ... e=62EFC083

[Davod]

An Aussie got confused:

https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/296842810_10228709877916266_7079399067517233057_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_p843x403&_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=5cd70e&_nc_ohc=xwAHZUxt19cAX_46gNQ&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-1.xx&oh=00_AT9rCUP4XXyAkztRQ9_j7_fozoqP0cEZUFR8OgEIQJB_Cw&oe=62EFC083

[Davod]

Koala TV Commercial (1968-1980)-I hate Qantas-part 1

https://youtu.be/XIU1gKKJL0w

[Davod]

Horse lets himself in the house whenever he wants.

https://youtu.be/dxmFno4-0s0

[Davod]

Gentlemen, start your furballs. Turn sound on.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1554776208625246208

[Davod]

Hugs

https://twitter.com/i/status/1554775405357416448

[Davod]

Rescuing a dog

https://twitter.com/i/status/1554792948801253382

[Davod]

Like father, like son.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1554670894907363330

[Davod]

Bored Panda

https://twitter.com/i/status/1553737494067261440

[Davod]

Better than the last 5 star wars movies. 😂😂

https://twitter.com/i/status/1554865683900649476

[Davod]

Goat gang.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1554832429336039429

[Davod]

Hahahahahhahahaha Why?? 🤣🤣

https://twitter.com/i/status/1554169808572252160

[Davod]

Any golfers out there? When you understand the law of physics...

https://twitter.com/i/status/1553384342428291072

[Davod]

Racoon dog

https://youtu.be/p9RxKI1sBV4

[Davod]

Removing a thorn from the paw of a sea lion:

https://youtu.be/L_zKQ0SzOs0

[Davod]

Don't touch me

https://twitter.com/i/status/1554473808979001348

[Rocco]

WATCH: China Sends A Frightening Message To Taiwan After Pelosi ‘Pours Oil On The Flames’

In a video that went viral on social media, former Taiwan diplomat Jieh Wen-chieh was seen raging at Pelosi for “pouring oil on the flames” of region tensions with her visit.

“Are you here to support Taiwan or to provoke a war?” Wen-chieh ranted. “What the hell are you doing here, Pelosi? The relationship between the mainland and Taiwan is already very tense! Supporting Taiwan? We don’t need your support! You’re literally pouring oil on the flames! You’ll only make things worse!”

https://en-volve.com/2022/08/04/watch-china-sends-a-frightening-message-to-taiwan-after-pelosi-pours-oil-on-the-flames/

[Narciso]

oh

https://www.revolver.news/2022/08/release-the-tape-revolver-has-definitive-proof-fbi-is-hiding-critical-footage-of-jan-6-pipe-bomber/

[Dave (in MA)]

.

[Narciso]

kenny, the youngest of the tikes, often died in gruesome ways, hence the joke,

https://twitchy.com/brettt-3136/2022/08/03/floridas-vile-new-dont-tread-on-me-license-plate-stirs-controversy-media-says/

[Narciso]

interesting

https://arnoldkling.substack.com/p/keeping-up-with-the-fits-84

[Narciso]

paper, you have papers,

https://boriquagato.substack.com/p/due-consideration-of-due-process?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

[Dave (in MA)]

Monica Crowley liked
Clay Travis@ClayTravis
Vin Scully on socialism.
https://twitter.com/ClayTravis/status/1554686235679068160

Vin Scully didn't kill himself.

[jim nj]

Two assessments of the Ukraine war:

https://militaryland.net/ukraine/invasion-day-162-summary/

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-august-4

[jim nj]

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/matt-margolis/2022/08/04/sen-john-kennedys-epic-new-campaign-ad-is-an-ad-after-my-own-heart-n1618376

Sen. John Kennedy’s Epic New Campaign Ad Is an Ad After My Own Heart

“People say I’m too outspoken,” Kennedy says in the ad. “It’s true.”

“I have the right to remain silent,” he continues over some upbeat background music. “I just don’t have the ability. I’m just being me: John Kennedy.”

“Folks, I will never completely fit in. For all those Washington insider elite bed wetters whose feelings I hurt, here’s some free advice: go buy yourself an emotional support pony because I’m not going to shut up.”

But he wasn’t done.

“And one more thing. Always be yourself… unless you suck.”

[jim nj]

https://nypost.com/2022/08/04/fauci-messing-up-monkeypox-just-like-covid-ebola-and-aids/

Fauci and other health ‘experts’ are messing up monkeypox just as they did COVID, Ebola and AIDS

"The latest example is the government’s handling of monkeypox, which the Biden administration just declared a public-health emergency. As The New York Times recently reported, the US government had 20 million doses of monkeypox vaccine less than a decade ago. (It’s actually a smallpox vaccine called Jynneos, also effective against monkeypox.) But when we needed it, the so-called National Strategic Stockpile had only 2,400 doses on hand, enough to vaccinate just 1,200 people."

I didn't realize it's actually a smallpox vaccine.