Shutterstock / Maridav©It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 months since life as we know it changed suddenly, and we were all working from home.
None of us will forget those first few days amidst the ever-changing and worrying times that began in March 2020.
Your PF team are all still working from home with no idea when we’ll be back in our lovely offices again.
The “Friend” staff go in to the office every so often to sort through the mail and have a general tidy-up.
We can only go in separately though, and you’re given a time slot.
The Fiction team have gone in over the past couple of weeks (all on different days) to have a bit of a clear out and monitor the mail situation.
Strange days . . .
It was my turn to go in last week and it was a strange and rather sad couple of hours, to be honest.
I’ve worked in DC Thomson for 34 years and all I’ve known has been bustling offices, lots of interesting people and sounds of a very busy building filled with colleagues and friends. To go into our own beloved space in the building and to be completely alone wasn’t great.
The Fiction Team’s part of the office was always a haven of reading, chatting about stories, looking at artwork and well, just being a team.
Trying to recreate that over a laptop just isn’t the same.
The whole of the “Friend” team is a close one and when I think back to what we’ve achieved over the past 20 months I am proud of my colleagues in every department of DC Thomson.
During these turbulent times we have never once compromised. If anything we’ve been even harder on ourselves to make things the absolute best they can be.
Getting all the publications out to press has been a monumental team effort across the board and it’s only been possible because of support, good humour, an amazing IT department and constant communication, even if it can’t be in person.
We’ll meet again
These extraordinary times look set to continue for a while yet, so it may be another few months before biscuits are being shared, Cheese Club resumes and the simple things like random conversations that turn into gales of laughter can once again be the norm.
It’s been a rocky road at times for everyone at some point, but the “Friend” has been here for us all for almost 153 years, so I’m looking to the future by looking at the past . . . and keeping my chin up!
For more from the “Friend” team, click here to read our blog.
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Tracey Steel Having worked on a number of magazines over the years, I have found my perfect place on the “Friend” as I’m obsessed with reading and never go anywhere without a book! I read all of our stories with a mug of tea close by and usually a bit of strong cheese too!
