Last month I traveled to Ireland to catch-up with cousins I hadn’t seen in four years thanks to pandemic restrictions. We had great reunions, filled with epic evenings of talk and drink. Though I stayed up most nights past 1am chatting away, I didn’t feel worse for wear, I felt enlivened and happy. How could one not, being with people who you care for so deeply, and who return the feeling. Only one thing bothered me. Family kept heaping praise on my father for building something from nothing, rising fro
I haven’t written for over two years. I don’t think I can name one specific reason. I put a lot of pressure on myself to do long well-argued posts. The effort takes time and energy. And I haven’t had a lot of either in the last two years, like most people in business. Simultaneously we’ve had to navigate a succession of events beyond our control, ranging from the pandemic to rampant inflation. Like most midsized companies we only had a few people who can manage. The whole madness just took it out of me.
Over the last few weeks quiet conversations between women have proliferated around the company. Whispered talk about the coming school year. It more or less goes like this, I am told. One woman asks another how they plan to work and teach children trapped at home thanks to Covid. This nearly silent exchange happens among women from the factory floor to the top of the company. What will you do? How will you manage the kids? Will you be able to keep working? Same questions, same shrugs. School districts