Ever since things shut down, all the union meetings and events I’ve participated in have been virtual. I have been in virtual committee meetings and attended a virtual convention. There was no question for a long time that was the way we needed to do things in order to keep people safe. And for union committee meetings, I actually liked the virtual format because I never could attend in person, and being on the phone while most people are in the same room isn’t the best option. So having everyone on Zoom made it more of an equal playing field for all and I have felt much more connected to the meetings and not just feel like I’m listening in my own little world. Of course, I miss going to the local board meetings as an observer while everything has been virtual, but I knew that those meetings would likely return to being at the union headquarters again and I would be able to go in the future.
And recently, things have been starting to open up again. The union headquarters opened and there are some new guidelines for going to things there in person. It was pretty simple for me to do because it was registering through an app to include my vaccination information. There haven’t been any things in person yet for me to attend, but I’m excited to see what will be coming back and what I can be a part of again.
For some reason, when the announcement of the headquarters opening up came out, I didn’t think much about the committee meetings since I’d never attended them in person. But when I was in a recent committee meeting, someone asked the chair when we would be going back to meeting in person so we didn’t always have to be on Zoom.
That idea seemed to get a mixed reaction from others in the committee. Some of us have been happy with these virtual meetings. Not only does it allow those of us who have to work at the same time to attend, but people who don’t live close by also don’t have to worry about a commute to and from the meeting. The chair talked about how they were happy not spending over an hour each way to get to the meeting so they were fine keeping things on Zoom for now. I believe there will be a poll going out soon so everyone can have a say in what we would like to see, but I think that Zoom will always be an option because how many of us don’t have the time or ability to get to the headquarters for meetings and everyone seems to agree that Zoom is much better than just being on the phone.
It’s interesting how I really am excited to have some things back in person but I want to keep other things the way they’ve been the past few years. I still don’t go out in big crowds that often, but I also crave being social because I was isolated for so long. I don’t think everything will ever go back to how they were before, but things slowly have been going back and it’s been a mix of the old and new normal for a while. And I’m sure that as time goes on, more things will be back to the old way. But at the same time, I think we will never really be back to the old way things were and some things will always be either the new normal or a hybrid.
As long as I can continue to be involved with the union, I’m ok with things changing back to how they are or staying the way they’ve been. I think now more than ever, people recognize how some people want to be able to participate but don’t have the same ability to be in person as everyone else. So hopefully there will continue to be some accommodations or better options for everyone.
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