It’s so jarring to listen to NPR, read the newspaper, and watch late night comedians, and hear over and over again about the perils of being stuck inside. For so many people (especially outside of the niche that tends to be national reporters and TV stars) that simply wasn’t our reality. For so long I heard about how to make staying in your house more bearable, but no one talked about how to interact in public and at work and negotiate differing norms and boundaries around COVID safety. I know my office wasn’t the only white-collar office in person, and I know millions of essential workers or other service industry workers were in person either the whole time or since April 2020, so this event really drove home for me that most national media is hindered by being based in only a few communities. ... For those of us that keep your lights on, your furnace running and your water hot (energy workers) there was no such thing as work from home. We had as many safety measures that could be managed and still do the job. But when your co-workers had to isolate/quarantine, were sick, or in one case died, there was/is no relief for those left working. This country has asked the absolute limit of essential workers. We have forgone time off in the last year because you need to have enough people working to cover those that cannot work. We are burned out: physically, emotionally, mentally.