The subject line of the email from his employer was enough to whip Gus Azusenis into a frenzy. “UPDATE,” he read, a lump forming in his throat as he noted the urgency in all the capital letters. Then came the word he had been dreading for months: “RETURN.”
Even without reading the message, Azusenis knew what it would say—that after more than a year, employees at his Chicago bank would be going back to the office. Anxiety consumed the financial analyst as he tried to imagine how he could properly care for Finley, his pandemic puppy, if he had to leave her alone to work long hours, five days a week. “I went into sheer planning-for-disaster mode,” Azusenis said.
Across the room, blissfully unaware, Finley swished her tail back and forth, and Azusenis’ heart broke a little bit more. The year-old Newfoundland had essentially spent her entire life at home with him, and she had no clue their little bubble was about to burst. “I felt crushed,” Azusenis said.
He left the email unopened in a last-ditch effort to delay reality for one more day.
Thousands of pet owners were experiencing similar moments of emotional turmoil as companies across the U.S. prepared to reopen their offices post-pandemic. Poll after poll showed that they were worried about how returning to the office
