Slice of life

I am 22 years old. It’s the end of my university internship

“Rosalie, your internship with us went very well! You are dynamic, organized and irreproachable. On the other hand, there is one point that poses a problem for us: your integration into the team. At dinner, you don’t get involved in conversations. It’s important to be sociable, you know.

Lunchtime discussions? I usually eat my salad while listening to vague exchanges about cloth diapers, Arthur-Gabriel’s choice of high school or Mya-Oceann’s race to find a day camp. How can I contribute to the discussion? Right now, my reality is applying for scholarships to finance my Master’s degree next year, and succeeding in my last semester of university. Not managing a daily life with children.

I am 25 years old. In the office, back from summer vacation

The fateful question we are inevitably asked around the table, or around the coffee machine: “What did you do during your vacation?”

Colleague number 1 – “I went to Mexico with my husband and kids. It’s going to create memories for us…”

Co-worker #2 – “We went camping in the Saguenay with our family. Finally, some quality time with the kids.”

Colleague number 3 – “We went on lots of outings with the kids: to the zoo, to the beach, to festivals…”

Suddenly, I don’t feel like answering the question about how I spent my vacation. All of the other people’s answers revolve around kids, family, the family bubble, and the importance of picking up “family”.

Will they think I’m frivolous, “flat”, or worse, immature, if I talk about my solo roadtrip, my stack of books, my dinners with friends, or my time at my grandparents’?

I am 30 years old. I’ve been working for the same employer for five years.

Véro? She has gone on maternity leave twice since I started. Her cubicle is now strewn with pictures of her four children at the beach, in Halloween costumes or with Santa at the mall. Roxanne has just returned from her parental leave. A few months earlier, she had come to the office, during her leave, to introduce us to little Louis-Philémon. As for Mathilde, she has just announced that she is pregnant: the job posting for her replacement will be published at the end of the summer. I’m the only one on the team in my age group who doesn’t have children “yet” or who hasn’t taken parental or family leave in the last few years.

I’m sure the HR people must be wondering about my “case”.

I am 33 years old. A worldwide pandemic of COVID-19 is coming

And then we switch to telecommuting. There are no longer any boundaries between professional and personal life.

I hear Véro talking about the difficulties of reconciling telecommuting and school closures due to the pandemic. Patricia cancels our work meeting because she has the kids with her today. Diane is working live from her cottage and her teenagers appear in the background of the videoconference.

I envy them.

Their life is more “balanced” than mine.

When we were face-to-face, we didn’t have this direct access to our colleagues’ private lives. Now, it causes too many comparisons.

I am 35 years old. After two years of the pandemic, my employer organizes a face-to-face “team building” outing to the apples.

Spouses and children are invited.

I don’t want to go.

I’m afraid to stay in my corner, and that each of my colleagues will stay in their family bubble. And I don’t want to have to answer any questions from the analyst on the 5th floor or the team leader on the 3rd floor whose names I don’t even know: “Do you have children?”, “Did you come alone?

And I’m already dreading the questions about what I’m going to do with my two weeks off over the holidays.

 

Rosalie

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)