Talked to my dad about his old home office setup and it made me feel weird

I was visiting my parents in Omaha and my dad asked about my work. I told him I was looking for a new place, something with a real office space, not just a corner of the living room. He laughed and said, 'Back in '95, my office was a card table in the basement next to the furnace.' He wasn't even joking. It hit me how much the idea of a 'proper' place to work from home has changed. For him, it was just a spot to put his papers after his real job. For me, it's my whole business and I'm stressing over square footage and natural light. It made me wonder if I'm overthinking it, or if the stakes are just higher now. Has anyone else had a moment like that, where you realized your needs for a work space are totally different from what the last generation even thought about?

3 comments

3 Comments

oscar_gonzalez451mo ago

Feel that hard. My dad used the kitchen counter and a folding chair, like it was no big deal at all.

nancyramirez1mo ago

Remember how your dad said his office was next to the furnace? That got me. My mom used our laundry room. The dryer would be going while she balanced the checkbook on top of the washer. It was just a chore station, not a "workplace." So when you talk about needing natural light now, it makes me wonder... is it because our work is more mental and we need that stuff to focus, or did they just have a higher tolerance for bad environments because it wasn't their main thing?

the_riley1mo ago

Wow, @nancyramirez, that's such a good point. I feel like it's both. Their work was more of a task, so the place didn't matter as much. Our work now takes up our whole head, so a bad space just kills it. They powered through a chore, but we live in our jobs. A dark room feels like it's crushing your brain.