CORONAVIRUS
STAY-CATION: It's a Love/Hate
Thing
"Home is a
shelter from storms - all sorts of storms." William J. Bennett
Because law firms are considered "essential businesses"
under the Florida stay-at-home rules, my company, Will & Trust Express, is allowed to remain
open in the current environment. Up until last Thursday, we were busy seeing
clients and preparing wills, trusts, and related documents for concerned
residents of Central Florida.
At the office, we took extensive precautions to protect our
clients and ourselves. We disinfected the conference room and waiting area
between each client meeting; we scrubbed our hands several times a day; we
generously offered masks and hand sanitizer; we used brand-new pens each time
we signed documents and let the clients keep them; and we wiped down client
estate planning binders before they were delivered.
But my wife and children were nevertheless concerned for my
welfare. They know I have a weakened respiratory system due to double
open-chest lung surgeries I had 20 years ago. They were also afraid I might
bring the virus home to my wife and then we would both be in "deep doo-doo,"
as George H. W. Bush used to say.
Wishing to be more cautious, I tried working
"virtually." However, I found the results largely unfulfilling and
unsatisfactory, at least for me. I much prefer person-to-person interaction,
which gives greater opportunity to share stories and experiences back and
forth, to read body language and facial expressions, and to observe more
nuanced eye-to-eye contact. Trying to communicate with another human being via
a computer screen is not the same as face to face. The more I tried it, the
more it felt like I was morphing into Legal Zoom or some other faceless,
soulless online provider. Yech! Not for me!
So, I decided to finish the cases already in progress and then
close the office for a few weeks until things simmer down a bit. I would take a
vacation of sorts, just to be on the safe side. But since there was nowhere to
go, it would be a "stay-cation."
Some of you have been on this journey for quite some time already,
but I'm just starting. This is new territory for me. How are you dealing with
your own coronavirus stay-cation? If anybody has some advice on this issue, I'm
all ears.
I have two fears about the upcoming weeks. The first is that I may
hate this period of forced inactivity. Anyone who knows me knows that not
working is not in my nature. What if I can't find useful ways to use
this extra time? What if this idleness drives me crazy? What if I actually have
to start tackling some of those honey-do projects I've long avoided?
My second fear, on the other hand, is that I may discover that I
love this taste of retirement. Once having tasted freedom, I might start
figuring out how to make not working permanent. I have always planned to work
until I'm 70, but what if it feels so good to not go to work that I lower my
sights a little bit? What if waking up whenever I feel like it and spending the
day doing interesting things with my wife around the house is lots more fun
than driving into work every day? What then?
It's still too early to tell how this personal dilemma will play
out for me, but I'm optimistic about the future.
I'm hopeful that when we open our doors again at Will & Trust Express,
I'll have a deeper appreciation for the satisfying nature of the meaningful
work I get to do. I'm hopeful that many people in this area will realize that
they need to complete their own will and trust planning.
And I'm confident that plenty of folks will want to sit down with
me face to face and chat thoughtfully about their future plans. I'm optimistic
that many of my neighbors will want to discuss how they can draw upon my
experience and training to help them enjoy greater peace of mind in a world
that's full of uncertainty.
These are challenging times, but I believe we'll get through this
and life will be better on the other side.
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