So, this is it. After the dozens of ads researched, the CVs sent, the “Yeah we don’t need you right now, we’ll call you if we do though, xoxo” and the Skype interviews, someone was willing to give me an opportunity. And I’d be damned if I didn’t grasp it with all I had. The contract conditions were good, the environment seemed awesome, and the work seemed exactly what I was looking for, so fate arranged my first day of work. Look up. Straighten your back. Seem confident. Long strides to show I’m not afraid of what’s to come. No sounds other than the rain pelting on my umbrella. I walk up the stairs, and reach for the door - this is it. The moment I waited for.

What the…?

Crap, the door is locked. There’s no doorbell in sight either. It’s exactly 4PM, so I’m definitely on time. I went back, and looked for a security guard. As I spotted one, I walked towards him to ask if he knew if there was someone in the office building. Oh, did I say “ask”? I meant “shout”.

There’s an important detail I haven’t mentioned yet: it’s 2020, and Corona-chan decided to grace us with her presence. Social distancing is a thing, it is illegal to stand in a 2m radius of another human being.

The security guard confirmed there was indeed someone inside, so I went back to the locked door. Luckily, a woman spotted me at the entrance and signaled for me to go around the back. After some back and forth walking I finally found the back of the office and the woman held the door for me to enter.

The office was desert. Corona-chan was too beautiful for mortal hearts, so humans dared not to leave their homes and gaze upon her. Everyone, with the exception of a few brave ones, was working from their houses.

What ensued lasted about 2 minutes. I was handed a laptop, told that everything was set up, to attend a meeting at 10AM, and go back home. Contract would be signed virtually as well. This was definitely not what I expected of my first day as a software engineer. I imagined an awkward walk up to my new teammates, getting introduced to them, grabbing some coffee, some presentation about what I’d be doing concretely, and a ton of documentation to read. Not someone giving me a laptop and kick in the ass. Regardless, I was happy to finally begin working in a field I’m passionate about, and ready to give it my all.

As my favorite samurai once said: “Sometimes, no matter what we do, we are victims of the circumstances. We should just have to pull ourselves out”.