In Montgomery County, MD when our office sent us home to work remotely back in 2020, it was understood that some of us would occasionally have to come to the office to do "essential" work. We were given authorization letters ("papers") to carry with us in case we were stopped and questioned. No, we never were stopped and questioned, but it was just the very assumption that this could happen, and that our HR department was clearly following some orders from somewhere to do this, that was so suddenly chilling.

I've kept the letter, stashed in my COVID-19 time capsule I've been adding to (which also includes masks, "no entry without a mask unless you are vaccinated!" signs, and so forth); my thought has always been that one day, perhaps 3 years into the future (but hopefully sooner), we would look back and marvel at the insanity. By "we," I mean everyone, including those who are still buying into it. It's not time to open the time capsule yet, sadly.