The Chicago Cubs are offering a unique promotion where you can work at the literal home plate in Wrigley Field: “Work From Home Plate Sweepstakes“
The promotion states:
Enter for the chance to work from the ultimate location: Home plate at Wrigley Field!
Through our Work from Home Plate sweepstakes, one lucky winner will get the chance to change up their virtual work environment and work from home plate at Wrigley Field. Cubs fans who purchase single game tickets for the remainder of the 2021 season will automatically be entered to win a chance to work from home plate at Wrigley Field. Tickets must be purchased by the sweepstakes deadline of July 31, and access to work at home plate with the Wrigley Field scoreboard as their background will be granted for 60 minutes to the winner and one guest.
This brings up many questions.
Frequently Asked Questions about the “Work From Home Plate Sweepstakes”
1) Do they run an extension cord out to home plate?
2) Do they offer a canopy tent for hot sunny days?
3) What if it’s raining? Do you work in the rain? Does the rain crew come out and pull out the tarp?
4) What bathrooms can I use?
5) Access to a printer?
6) Who makes the coffee?
7) Does the winner get to work there for a full 8-hour day, or is it just something cute like one hour?
8) What if a work emergency comes up and you have to put in late hours? Can you stay there later until your work emergency is resolved?
9) Are you allowed to take frequent walks? Like, up to the ivy?
10) What if you wanted to work from first base? Can you move the desk?
11) I like to work with my shoes off. While on the field, can I remove my shoes? I don’t know if I’ve ever seen someone walk on the Wrigley field in their bare feet.
12) If I don’t feel like working, can I bring my own baseball bat and a bucket of balls? Then just play around hitting the balls?
13) Since I’m assuming Wrigley Field will not be providing me with a whiteboard… if I wanted to work out some ideas, can I use a stick and write in the infield dirt?
14) While as an employee at the Tribune when they owned the Cubs, we had an official ant farm in the office. Can I bring back the ant farm to the field? Am I allowed to let the ants free into the dirt to create a giant ant farm in the infield?
15) Workplaces often have beautiful plants. Can I install some plants amongst the outfield ivy?
Only 60 minutes?!
I wrote all these questions before I realized that this was just for 60 minutes.
One of my questions asked if this was 60 minutes or 8 hours. Oh, they answered this question already in the description (TLDR). You get to work there for 60 minutes. I love how they don’t say “one hour”. That sounds too general. They are very specific. 60 minutes implies… not one minute over. Not 61 minutes. At 60 you are expected to clean out your desk and be escorted off the workplace premises.
I was imagining a full 8-hour work day. Like, actually getting work done there. Yeah, yeah, the first 60 minutes you are goofing around taking photos. But then after a while, hanging out on the field probably becomes a little normal. Then you might actually do some work.
Ok, maybe the first four hours is goofing around. But really, after four hours, you’ll want to actually do something. And that’s where this becomes interesting. The length of time having to spend just at home plate. It’s curious. Then all these issues of the bathroom and food come up. Then it’s like a real office.
That second person
Also amusing how they let you bring one other person with you. Within the context of work that sounds like a fun chance to accomplish some work in meetings. Maybe some teamwork on completing a milestone on a project.
In reality, that extra person you are allowed to bring isn’t functionally your coworker. This second person is effectively your photographer to document you being at home plate. Really. Imagine how this plays out. Some Chicago Cub employee walks you to home plate. Of course you are going to want some photos of this! But the employee doesn’t want to be standing around taking photos of you for SIXTY MINUTES straight. No way. They want someone else to take all your silly photos. That’s why they grant you an extra person—to be your photographer.
If there is ever a time when I have to work in an office again, I want there to be a dedicated photographer who just follows me around all day taking photos of me in front of various work things. “Here’s me at the coffee machine! Isn’t this so cool!? Here’s me in the windowless conference room! Oh yeah! Take a photo of me in this lifeless room! Here’s me at the xerox machine!” Someone could take a picture of you Xeroxing your face. It’s like a photo of you taking a photo of yourself.
Yeah, the dedicated work photographer.
That brings up another point. You have the dedicated photographer to document all this. Just like photographers document the game of baseball being played, so…
16. When your “work day” is complete, are there reporters interviewing you as you walk off the field? Will they ask you questions like, “how did it feel?” “What crossed your mind as you stepped up to home plate?” “Will you resign with the team? Where will you go next?”