Opinion: Pandemic puppies have spoiled us all for working at home

This is an editorial piece. An editorial, like a news article, is based on fact but also shares opinions. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and are not associated with our newsroom. 

Like a bazillion other people, we adopted a couple of pandemic puppies. 

And in the last 18 months, they became spoiled. They got used to me being at home. All the time. To playing with them, whenever they want.

During the height of the pandemic, we were at their beck and call. 

And they liked it like that. (And so did we.)

People wanna stay home with those pandemic puppies

They are not your children, they are your dogs. And if you got what’s now called a pandemic puppy like so many others did last year, it’s likely that they have grown up with you at home. 

And they don’t want that to change. (Come on, neither do you.)

In nearly 70% of cases highlighted in one recent survey, people quit rather than return to work and give the gift of separation anxiety to their furry-faced friends.

Like these guys!

That’s thousands of people who decided they’d rather be at home with the pooch than buy bigger work clothes, put the work clothes on, put on real shoes, walk out the door, commute to work with (GASP!) other people, sit in offices with (GASP!) more people, take meetings with, yep, more people, commute home, and fall into the couch with maybe a couple of pats on the head to the now-anxious pooch.

I mean, who wants that?

For sure millennials don’t. In one of these surveys a full one-third of them said they’d rather quit their jobs than leave their dogs for the entire day.

Related: Some would rather quit if they can’t work from home

So when you hear armchair quarterbacks on social media say that the labor shortage in the United States is caused by generous federal benefits (which half the states stopped offering anyway) you can chime in that it’s really the desire to stay at home and play mom and pop to their furry kids.

Here’s the radio version of this story – otherwise known as My Minute of News.

More like this: 

• Remembering my minute with Mark Eaton
• Pandemic impact on dogs: More adopted, but some hiccups