Nurse pours salt into post-pandemic problems

DEAR AMY >> It might be my profession that makes me a little salty, but I’m hoping that you can reframe or share some thoughts on this irritation.

When the pandemic started, everyone was sent to work from home.

All most people could do was complain about how difficult this was. Being a nurse and manager of a medical unit, I obviously did not get to work from home.

Now, three years later, many people have settled into working from home and love it.

Now they’re complaining about having to go into an office a few times a month.

Speaking on behalf of most of us in healthcare (and any service industry), I really wish people could appreciate their situation.

Making every work setting or situation into a complaint is obnoxious for those of us who do not have these luxurious options. Your take?

— Salty Nurse

DEAR SALTY >> I want to thank you for your service, and also for the invitation to ponder and potentially reframe a category of human inquiry that we should be grateful exists at all: Post-pandemic problems.

So let me start by removing from its case the world’s smallest violin and playing a plaintive tune for anyone who has the temerity to complain to a healthcare or service worker about the burdens of being called back into the office a few times a month.

Now for the reframing: We’re back! We’re back to overlooking our obvious lucky breaks, and are already starting to take for granted the simple privilege of being able to visit with, touch, hug and kiss one another.

We’ve resumed our habit of laundering our petty complaints, even if the rest of the world is on fire. You have my permission to remind others to put their problems into perspective.

DEAR AMY >> I’m a recently married woman in my mid-20s, looking for a new job.

Recently, during an interview with a local private school, I was asked about my pregnancy plans. The question was if I had a “plan for balancing children with work.”

I coldly said, “My husband and I have spoken about it, and we’re not concerned.”

I got offered the job but didn’t take it because of that question, as well as a “no pants” policy for women. When I told the company that I was declining the job, I told them my reasons, as well as including a link to the EEOC about pregnancy discrimination, which included a recommendation to not ask that question in interviews. Was there a better way to handle it?

— K

DEAR K >> Your choice to turn down this position was obviously a good one. Your follow-up was appropriate.

In the future, when you’re asked about your family planning in a job interview, you might respond: “I’m curious: Why do you ask?”

The interviewer would likely offer a benign-sounding explanation. If after that you’re at all still interested in employment at that particular workplace, you could then respond and deflect by saying, “I have an outstanding work ethic.”