The More Things Change
My mother told me an interesting story about her grandmother who lived through the Spanish Flu. She said that every week she would make a big pot of stew for the neighbours. They had a house on a nearby farm and had lots of kids and the mother was sick. So every week, my great grandmother would carry this pot down to their yard, and leave it. The father would come and bring it into the house. When they were done, he brought it back outside their yard and my great grandmother would come and get it, wash it in the creek and repeat the cycle. They knew enough to stay away.
I just got word that the schools have closed effective March 20. They have no date as of yet as to when they will reopen. Might be two weeks, might be September. We don’t know.
I work for a law firm. Not a huge one, but we do have clients coming and going. The lawyers do a lot of their appointments via telephone. They always have. We had a meeting this morning regarding COVID-19 and what we can do to prevent the spread while still providing service to our clients.
One thing that came up was digital signatures. This would eliminate the need for clients to come in and sign. Now it can’t work in every situation like when you have to sign in front of a commissioner or notary but in some cases it would be of service. Also, the courthouse is now accepting filing via email. Which is awesome. I hope they continue this practice. This virus has finally forced businesses and other services to look at their policies and see what can be changed. And a lot of it is for the better and dare I say, long overdue.
Since the school closure was announced, my bosses are suggesting that those of us with kids can work from home. They understand as well that it’s not going to be an easy process. There are times (especially in my job) that I need to be in the office. But the feeling that I got was that we need to be flexible. If something doesn’t work, we can figure it out together. We can do what work we can from home and if we need to come in, we can. We might need to communicate more often and in different ways but it can be done. But it is important that we know enough to stay away.
I just got word that the schools have closed effective March 20. They have no date as of yet as to when they will reopen. Might be two weeks, might be September. We don’t know.
I work for a law firm. Not a huge one, but we do have clients coming and going. The lawyers do a lot of their appointments via telephone. They always have. We had a meeting this morning regarding COVID-19 and what we can do to prevent the spread while still providing service to our clients.
One thing that came up was digital signatures. This would eliminate the need for clients to come in and sign. Now it can’t work in every situation like when you have to sign in front of a commissioner or notary but in some cases it would be of service. Also, the courthouse is now accepting filing via email. Which is awesome. I hope they continue this practice. This virus has finally forced businesses and other services to look at their policies and see what can be changed. And a lot of it is for the better and dare I say, long overdue.
Since the school closure was announced, my bosses are suggesting that those of us with kids can work from home. They understand as well that it’s not going to be an easy process. There are times (especially in my job) that I need to be in the office. But the feeling that I got was that we need to be flexible. If something doesn’t work, we can figure it out together. We can do what work we can from home and if we need to come in, we can. We might need to communicate more often and in different ways but it can be done. But it is important that we know enough to stay away.
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