Do you socialize with your neighbors if you WFH?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live on a cul de sac and during the solar eclipse the Fed Ex guy happened to show up while 13 adults were standing around in our paper glasses at 3pm on a weekday. Of 9 houses with 16 adults, 2 people work in person regularly and 12 of us work in person 1-3 days a week. The other 4 are fully remote but travel to their company HQ a few times a year.

We all socialize regularly in the evening and on weekends. We pick each others’ kids up from school and help ourselves to herbs from each other’s gardens. But we almost never see each other between school drop off and pick-up unless there is a reason to go outside like the solstice or when a utility truck is messing with the street. The beauty of working from home is that I try to clock my 8 hours of actual work as close to 9 hours of elapsed time as possible - so that I have free time to actually socialize.

Maybe these people who wonder why you don’t socialize during the day are people who had retail or other jobs where you stand around and chat between customers or phone calls and wonder if you are lonely. I “socialize” when I make small talk in the 1-3 minutes at the beginning and end of meetings when I ask about my colleagues’ weekend, their kids, etc.

I was in a building working during the eclipse and so were a lot of people.
You just cemented that wfh is not work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand why work location matters. Our neighbors are a mix of in person, hybrid, WFH. We are mostly WFH but go in sometimes. We socialize with the neighbors we are friends with but it’s still evenings or weekends because during the day we are all…working?

When we WFH we are working and not out and about nor are the neighbors. There are some SAHMs of young children and I’ve seen them out on walks during the day but not with any WFH neighbors.

When I work from home, I work much less often because of the distractions, the comfort of home, and access to things. I will resume a home project, bike ride, shop, watch tv.
You do too.

That’s a you problem. Most of us have the ability to pay attention to the meeting we’re in or the document we’re writing instead of being distracted by the television like a dog who can’t resist chasing a ball.

And you are a lying liar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand why work location matters. Our neighbors are a mix of in person, hybrid, WFH. We are mostly WFH but go in sometimes. We socialize with the neighbors we are friends with but it’s still evenings or weekends because during the day we are all…working?

When we WFH we are working and not out and about nor are the neighbors. There are some SAHMs of young children and I’ve seen them out on walks during the day but not with any WFH neighbors.

When I work from home, I work much less often because of the distractions, the comfort of home, and access to things. I will resume a home project, bike ride, shop, watch tv.
You do too.

That’s a you problem. Most of us have the ability to pay attention to the meeting we’re in or the document we’re writing instead of being distracted by the television like a dog who can’t resist chasing a ball.

Once that meeting is over, you’re out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live on a cul de sac and during the solar eclipse the Fed Ex guy happened to show up while 13 adults were standing around in our paper glasses at 3pm on a weekday. Of 9 houses with 16 adults, 2 people work in person regularly and 12 of us work in person 1-3 days a week. The other 4 are fully remote but travel to their company HQ a few times a year.

We all socialize regularly in the evening and on weekends. We pick each others’ kids up from school and help ourselves to herbs from each other’s gardens. But we almost never see each other between school drop off and pick-up unless there is a reason to go outside like the solstice or when a utility truck is messing with the street. The beauty of working from home is that I try to clock my 8 hours of actual work as close to 9 hours of elapsed time as possible - so that I have free time to actually socialize.

Maybe these people who wonder why you don’t socialize during the day are people who had retail or other jobs where you stand around and chat between customers or phone calls and wonder if you are lonely. I “socialize” when I make small talk in the 1-3 minutes at the beginning and end of meetings when I ask about my colleagues’ weekend, their kids, etc.

I was in a building working during the eclipse and so were a lot of people.
You just cemented that wfh is not work.

I went to my office on the eclipse day. My office, and apparently other offices in the same building, all took time out to go view, had a little party thing afterward. I could see tons of other people outside, also apparently taking time away from their office buildings to view.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess I'm confused. I've been a SAHM, and a WOHM, but I only WAH'd during the pandemic.

Being a SAHM or WOHM hasn't prevented me from getting to know my neighbors, so I'm not sure what's unique about being a WAHM that would prevent it.

OP’s family thinks it’s odd that OP is not having coffee, going for walks, eating lunch, or doing other social things during the work day because they are home all day. Kind of like dense people who think stay at home moms are just watching soap operas and eating cookies all day.

OP’s point is that she is busy - working. Her neighbor who is also home is busy - parenting. They aren’t going to have a 3pm coffee break together.

[Anonymous]

I WFH and go for a walk with a neighbor either before we start for the day or at lunch. We do it maybe 3 times a week, depending on what else is going on.

It's a great way to get some social time and a little exercise, since sometimes I feel cooped up spending so much time in my house.

If I run into a neighbor outside we might chat, but it rarely goes further than that duing the work day.

[Anonymous]

I work from home, as do many of my friends in my neighborhood. This give us increased flexibility, so sometimes we will go for a walk or grab a quick lunch or a coffee or something but it's generally planned. I have run into people while out on a walk and then we've walked together, but most often it's us planning to get together in advance. I happen to run into people more often since I work from home, so if someone is dropping something off then I may end up chatting with them if I'm free, whereas I couldn't do that when I was in the office. But if I'm on a call or something then of course I don't stop work in order to socialize.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand why work location matters. Our neighbors are a mix of in person, hybrid, WFH. We are mostly WFH but go in sometimes. We socialize with the neighbors we are friends with but it’s still evenings or weekends because during the day we are all…working?

When we WFH we are working and not out and about nor are the neighbors. There are some SAHMs of young children and I’ve seen them out on walks during the day but not with any WFH neighbors.

When I work from home, I work much less often because of the distractions, the comfort of home, and access to things. I will resume a home project, bike ride, shop, watch tv.
You do too.

Hey, you do you. But leave me out of it. I was working from home long before the pandemic. My work is independent so sorry to disappoint but yes, I actually work from home. I am thankful not to have the added time of a commute both ways to go sit in my office all day solo. My work is deliverable based so if I wasn’t working, it would be quite noticeable.

[Anonymous]

When I WFH I am at my desk working, so no, I don't socialize with my neighbors because my desk is inside. I choose not to spend my lunch hour hanging out with my neighbors because I have other things to do. I socialized and BSed more at the office because more people came by my desk or I visited them at theirs. I can't exactly go ask my neighbor to sign a work document, review a file, or confer on a work issue.

[Anonymous]

Why does the one poster, or maybe there are more, generalize that because they aren’t productive at home no one else is? Some of us are disciplined enough to work. In the office it is constant chatting, grabbing lunch, and interruptions. Face time doesn’t equal productivity.

[Anonymous]

No, but if I'm taking a walk or coming back from grabbing takeout for lunch and see them, I'll stop and chat. I've never really invited anyone into my house because I assume they are busy and we also have a dog.Huh. Now wondering if people think I am weird and antisocial.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live on a cul de sac and during the solar eclipse the Fed Ex guy happened to show up while 13 adults were standing around in our paper glasses at 3pm on a weekday. Of 9 houses with 16 adults, 2 people work in person regularly and 12 of us work in person 1-3 days a week. The other 4 are fully remote but travel to their company HQ a few times a year.

We all socialize regularly in the evening and on weekends. We pick each others’ kids up from school and help ourselves to herbs from each other’s gardens. But we almost never see each other between school drop off and pick-up unless there is a reason to go outside like the solstice or when a utility truck is messing with the street. The beauty of working from home is that I try to clock my 8 hours of actual work as close to 9 hours of elapsed time as possible - so that I have free time to actually socialize.

Maybe these people who wonder why you don’t socialize during the day are people who had retail or other jobs where you stand around and chat between customers or phone calls and wonder if you are lonely. I “socialize” when I make small talk in the 1-3 minutes at the beginning and end of meetings when I ask about my colleagues’ weekend, their kids, etc.

I was in a building working during the eclipse and so were a lot of people.
You just cemented that wfh is not work.

I went to my office on the eclipse day. My office, and apparently other offices in the same building, all took time out to go view, had a little party thing afterward. I could see tons of other people outside, also apparently taking time away from their office buildings to view.

My office allowed an extra work from home day that week just so people could go out and see it.

[Anonymous]

No. I have no idea who my neighbors are. I couldn't pick them out of a lineup.

[Anonymous]

I literally get up to the kitchen to eat lunch and never leave the home

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand why work location matters. Our neighbors are a mix of in person, hybrid, WFH. We are mostly WFH but go in sometimes. We socialize with the neighbors we are friends with but it’s still evenings or weekends because during the day we are all…working?

When we WFH we are working and not out and about nor are the neighbors. There are some SAHMs of young children and I’ve seen them out on walks during the day but not with any WFH neighbors.

When I work from home, I work much less often because of the distractions, the comfort of home, and access to things. I will resume a home project, bike ride, shop, watch tv.
You do too.

I have the TV on in the background, but I have literally never done a "home project" or went bike riding or shopping. You just sound like an awful employee, please dont lump the rest of us in with your poor work ethic!