Corporate Woman's Solo Trip Boredom Ignites Loneliness Discussion

A young working woman took to social media to discuss the boredom that she felt while on a solo business trip and the video went viral in no time. Riley Scruggs, a senior creative strategist at Discover Financial Services in Washington DC posted a video on TikTok, sitting around in a hotel room in suburban Illinois. The video features her lying on the bed, standing in the shower, and sitting by the window. The overlay text on the video reads, "Sometimes I hate being a corporate girlie because what am I supposed to do alone in a hotel in the Illinois suburbs on a Wednesday night?"

The video accumulated more than 200,000 views on TikTok and has received more than a thousand comments. 

Many took to the video to suggest the things that she can do while on a business trip. One user wrote, "You order chilis and watch the office reruns that are always on hotel TVs" while another wrote, "Take a bath!! Drink some wine!! Find a local restaurant to try!! I love playing Eloise." Another comment read, "Literally 0 hate to this girl but y'all need to learn the concept of enjoying your own company and also without having a list of little side quests to do. Do you realize how incredible it is to have an evening to yourself in a new place in a hotel you didn't pay for? Order room service dance around and jump on the bed. I'm lowkey scared of people who can't fathom just doing anything alone. That is my preferred weekend every weekend."

According to reports, there's an epidemic of loneliness in the states and lack of connection has been associated with the risk of premature death. According to a report titled, "Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation," half of the U.S. adults have reported feeling lonely. The report also sheds light on the physical consequences of poot connection and says that it increases the risk of heart disease by 29%, a 32% increased risk of stroke, and a 50% increased risk of developing dementia for older adults.

"It's hard to put a price tag, if you will, on the amount of human suffering that people are experiencing right now," Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy told All Things Considered, via NPR. "In the last few decades, we've just lived through a dramatic pace of change. We move more, we change jobs more often, and we are living with technology that has profoundly changed how we interact with each other and how we talk to each other, you can feel lonely even if you have a lot of people around you because loneliness is about the quality of your connections," he added. Murthy also blames social media for the loss of connectivity and sense of community in the younger generations. 

"We also know that for some kids, being online has been a way to find community at a time when many of them have not been able to," he said. The culture of working remotely has also added to the feeling of isolation and loneliness. As per Business Insider, many young people are now spending hundreds on social clubs which allow them to make friends in person. 

For more corporate content, follow @ri.Scruggs, on TikTok.