Before the pandemic and then the predictable RTO push, I don’t think I really understood just how much of many people’s social needs were being met by work and office contact and activities.

I did not realize this because zero percent of my social needs are met in an office and never have been. Nearly none of my friends come from any workplace of mine and I actively attempt not to make friends where I work (with a few rare exceptions). Because why would you do that?

Put simply, I had no idea just how important shitty workplace interactions and friendships were to otherwise-deprived people. And it makes me sad that now I do know this.