#BocconiCorrespondents. From Paris, Brigida Viggiano
My name is Brigida, I graduated from Bocconi a little over 10 years ago and since then I have lived in Paris. I work as a manager in a consultancy companyspecializing in digital transformation for the luxury sector and I love mywork.
Until March 16th I was a true Parisian, almost a stereotype: alwayslooking for a new exotic restaurant, the latest cocktail bar to finish theday with colleagues, a theater show, a concert, an exhibition, a film, the
out of town weekend. In short, the hours spent at home werereduced to a minimum. But since March 16, Paris - like all of France - has been in lockdown. And since then I only went out of the house once ... for an appointment with the doctor.It is difficult to describe a city when you no longer experience it. I often wonder what would change in my life if my apartment were teleported elsewhere, and probably everything would be exactly the same.
At the beginning I was afraid, afraid of being bored, of wasting time. But more than anything else I was afraid of getting sick or that my loved ones could get sick, especially in Italy where the epidemic started earlier. So far , I haven't had time to get bored.
During the week, my job is well suited to smartworking, even though I had to rearrange things, especially with regards to motivating and organizing my team. Between virtual coffee breaks and remote team building aperitifs we managed to keep the same initial conviviality. To deal with the particular situation, I participated organizing a training program, funded by my company, for employees who have had a reduction in the load of work because of the current crisis. And on the weekend I take the opportunity to read, watch some old films again, do some work at home and above all prepare myself for the arrival of a new member of the family in July. I realize that I am part of the privileged: I am fine, my loved ones are fine,I can continue to work without much difficulty, my apartment is spacious enough to avoid 24-hour cohabitation conflicts, I have every reason to be confident about the future. But I miss my friends, I miss my life before. And what I am missing even more is the freedom to be able to go and see my family when I feel like it. We are used to distance, but we are also accustomed to improvised weekends and meeting each other halfway. The idea of ​​not having my loved ones near me for the birth of my first child makes me anxious. But I know that we will have the chance to make up for lost time. And this is not the case for everyone, so I prefer to focus on the positive aspects, and I tell myself I'm a lucky girl.