Well, the day happened. I got the call to return to work after nearly a year on furlough. Honestly this is a good thing because living on unemployment was awful.

My managers and coworkers have been awesome and it's been relatively slow at my place of work, due to the restrictions of how many people can gather in a place. Also, the guests have been nothing short of kind and courteous to us. This has left my anxiety/symptoms levels at a low point and I've been able to enjoy working again.

Unfortunately, I know that it's just a matter of time until we will get more people back. Crowded spaces with entitled guests (which we have plenty of), screaming, shouting and yelling trigger my symptoms and I have pretty nasty attacks as a result. They've been so bad that I've been sent home a few times and I ended up calling out sick so many times that I almost lost my job as a result.

Because I often don't notice that my symptoms are acting up until I all the sudden have an attack, I've been considering asking my doctor if I should get a service dog to warn me whenever I start showing worrying signs so I can escape and comfort me when I do express anxiety.

Nothing is set in stone yet. There's a lot of work that needs to be done...but it's either this or I lose my job.