I do feel like college hires going into remote gigs right now are missing out on an important ritual - the rite of passage of walking into that big office build

I do feel like college hires going into remote gigs right now are missing out on an important ritual - the rite of passage of walking into that big office building - a place full of people who are united in a common purpose and whose ranks you've been trusted to join. That sense of 'I'm a professional now, like these people'. It must be hard to have an idea of the scale of the enterprise you're engaged in when you never see more than five or six faces on a Zoom call at a time. But there's nothing natural or ancient about going in to the office as a rite of passage - it's not necessary. It's just something this generation won't get to have, just like my generation didn't have to go through the ritual of getting our first proper business suit, and how direct deposit has taken away the moment of being physically handed a paycheck. But they'll have their own things, I'm sure. Maybe the defining moment will be when that Fedex driver arrives and you sign for your first work laptop? Maybe logging onto the corporate slack and seeing all the channels for the first time imparts some sense of shared purpose? And maybe that means you also don't get artificially seduced by the trappings of the environment. Because the work is done in a serious building with serious glass conference rooms and serious desks, we learn to take the business seriously - maybe more seriously than it deserves. And maybe people who work in offices typing on computers every day do think a bit too much of themselves, because after all they work in an important building full of important people. Perhaps it's a good thing to miss out on that ego-stroking. Harder to take yourself too seriously when you're working on an Ikea desk at the foot of your bed surrounded by your own dirty laundry.