Working Nights During The Pandemic

Life during the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds through the perspective of Matt Wyllie, an electric traction lineman for Amtrak in New York City. As an essential worker, Wyllie navigates the eerie silence of a deserted city while maintaining the electrical systems necessary for train operations. He balances the high-risk nature of his job—working with 12,000 volts at significant heights—with the strict hygiene protocols required to protect his household. Beyond the professional demands, the experience highlights the psychological shift of living in an epicenter, marked by the transformation of public spaces into ghost towns and the emergence of nightly communal rituals like cheering for medical responders. These snapshots of isolation, ranging from building indoor forts to observing the proximity of the USNS Comfort, underscore the profound disruption of daily routines and the collective longing for a return to social connection.