From  | | |  | As more workers return in-person, we asked how you'd make your office more bearable | | Graphic designer Mary Hawkins once had an office so cold, she was determined to prove it. Her colleagues sat in blankets and winter coats in the windowless office as the AC unit churned at a frigid temperature set for a nearby server room. So she took matters into her own hands and bought an outdoor thermometer. The temperature one Monday morning? 58 degrees. "No one ever fixed the temperature properly, but at least they didn't tell us we were complaining for no reason," she wrote in a callout to The Washington Post. Studies have shown that women, whose metabolic rates tend to be lower than men's, prefer warmer temperatures, yet most office temperatures are set to assume the metabolic rate of men. Others have found that cognitive performance decreases for women in lower temperatures. The great thermostat debate has often been used as a distillation of a simple fact: Offices are not built for all of us. The pandemic threw these disparities into even starker terms, as millions left (or were forced out of) the workforce. More people, especially essential workers who never had the luxury of working from home, reevaluated their careers and relationship with work. | |  | | A message from McKinsey & Company |  | Have you ever worked with a freeloader or a micromanager? Then you know just how toxic some work jerks can be. Tessa West talks about her new book, Jerks at Work: Toxic Coworkers and What to Do About Them, and explores difficult work relationships and how best to navigate them. Read here. | | | | | | Now, as more offices make full or partial returns, we asked you: What would actually make offices more pleasant, especially for women and gender-nonconforming people? Consider this a thought experiment — a group brainstorm that invites us all to imagine a better working world. | | | | | Three need-to-know stories | | | (Jabin Botsford/Washington Post illustration) | 01.Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed to the Supreme Court last week and will be sworn in this summer. For many parents, the judge's ascension as the first Black woman on the high court is a moment to teach their kids to celebrate and bear witness to history. 02.On the last day of its legislative session last Thursday, Alabama passed two bills that could significantly curb the rights of transgender children, including one that would make it a crime to provide gender-affirming care to trans minors — one of the most extreme bills of its kind in the nation. 03.Russia's invasion of Ukraine is proceeding primarily on two fronts, according to Ukrainian officials: against the southeastern port city of Mariupol, and in the country's far east, especially the contested region of Luhansk. Ukraine has opened 5,600 war crimes cases since Russia's invasion, top prosecutor Iryna Venediktova said on Sunday. | | | | | | | A story to make you smile | | | (Astrid Riecken for The Washington Post) | | Vaughn Smith, a carpet cleaner who grew up in the D.C. area, can speak 24 languages well enough to carry on complex conversations. In a city where diplomats and embassies abound and language proficiency is résumé rocket fuel, Vaughn has been living as a savant with a secret. He's what's known as a "hyperpolyglot," a highly unusual person who can speak 11 languages or more. How did he get this way? And what was going on in his brain? But also: Why was he cleaning carpets for a living? Those are all questions Post reporter Jessica Contrera had in profiling him. But to Vaughn, she writes, all of that is missing the point. He's not interested in impressing anyone, but in the human connections language offers. Read more — and hear Vaughn speak in various languages. | | | | | We are nominated for two Webby Awards | | | Screenshots of our past Lily Lines newsletters. | | We're nominated for two Webby Awards, a recognition that has honored excellence on the Internet since 1996. Click here to cast your vote for us in the category of Best Diversity & Inclusion on Social Media. And click here to vote for us in the category of Best Email Newsletter in Business, News and Technology. Hint: That last award is for the newsletter you're reading right now, so if you're enjoying it, give us a vote. We appreciate your support, always. | | | | | But before we part, some recs | | | (Victor Jeffreys for G/O Media) | Anne Branigin Reporter, Gender & IdentityWhat's a small joy you're experiencing lately? It's a three-way tie between Anderson.Paak's wig; BTS's Grammy performance (Olivia! The lasers! That move with the jackets! I've been drafted into the BTS Army.); and spam musubi, the most perfect snack. You recently compiled a glossary of terms we use in our gender coverage. Why is that resource important? I believe the power of newspapers, particularly one with the influence and reach of The Post, isn't just to inform, but also to provoke examination. Gender is one of those subjects that everyone intuits, but fewer people take the time to reflect on. Stories and, more broadly, language, can help us better understand gender — how people experience it, how it influences our lives — so the words we use are key. They clarify; they set the terms of the conversation so we're talking to, not past, each other. You are, famously, a Scorpio. What is the most Scorpio thing about you? It's not that I am discreet (very), vindictive (nope, too tired) or passionate (depends). I am simply obsessed with being a Scorpio, which everyone knows is the most Scorpio trait of all. | | | | | | |
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