I grappled with this question since 2020 and my final determination is that I am too culturally different than my coworkers to continue in tech. “RTO” is not “r

I grappled with this question since 2020 and my final determination is that I am too culturally different than my coworkers to continue in tech. “RTO” is not “return to before” it is just causing resentment, and I have to Skype my coworkers who have different office days anyway, so worst of both worlds. There is a large difference between going to a place to work on computers and going to a computer to work. I know I am not the only person like this, my sister and father have had similar difficulties. And while most of my pre-pandemic programmer friends are still in tech, I see the changes in their demeanor. The hesitance to socialize. The lack of anything to talk about since nothing has actually happened to them since we last talked. The people handling this the best are those younger children in the exburbs, who get to spend time with their kids in their beautiful (?) house. Even there though, I see some people using their kids as emotional support animals and isolating their children (who don’t know any different). Now I work at an upscale cafe making 1/4 what I was before and I’ve never been happier. I feel like I’m a part of the fabric of my city instead of a leech. I see regular people again. Life is too short (for me) to be a computer toucher. Then again I’ve spent most of my life going against the grain.