In my head, I'm greeting you this way, "Oh hey, COVID Contact Tracer Rachel! I'm Market Research Report Writer U-Ming! How are you and how much do you make?"

Do people actually talk this way? :)

Seriously though, this is a great article! It reminded me of a former boss (well, boss's boss), David, who used to hint darkly that he'd worked his way through two heart attacks and a divorce, suggesting that similar "dedication" was expected of you. He ran his meetings like they were inquisitions, picking people out at random.

"What did you work on this week?"

and cutting them off when they were responding, "What do you mean by X? Why didn't you do Y?"

Just before the pandemic, I was curious and looked David up and this hardcore boss seems to have become a Buddhist monk and is preaching minimalism, being non-confrontational, accepting, and all about love, love, love.

I can't help but feel sorry for him and wonder if the path between the hard-driving boss and the loving monk was one paved with a lot of pain.