Guts out

The construction flag lady smiles at me and says "Bonjour Madame". I have passed her before and with my height I know I am a little hard to miss even in sunglasses.

St Catherine Street which is our principal downtown shopping artery looks like a bomb has been dropped on it. It's guts have been dug up and strewn about as Montreal beautifies itself for 2025 which is when she informs me the work is supposed to end.

One of my colleagues is livid about being forced back to the downtown  office I worked in for so long which round trip takes her 3 hours. My former company has mandated that the hybrid model does not work for them despite functioning for our competitors. She is the best construction planner I have ever worked with and they risk losing her.

No doubt that downtown cores will benefit from a return to 5 day commuting except that it is the minority which will enforce it. There is no going back to the nuclear model of work at the center and go home to the burbs.

Everything has changed.