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Sara's avatar

I’m a teacher and I have sick days (I literally have a year’s worth built up) but they are beyond stressful to use this year so I barely have, even though I should have many times (see: your earlier piece on teacher burnout). But I took a sick day preemptively after shot 2 bc I assumed I’d be sick and then... I felt 100% fine!! And it was the most amaaaaazing day. I stayed in bed, as if I was sick, and just... rested. All day. I almost get teary thinking about it now because it was just such a restorative day... that I probably won’t give myself again.

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Sue's avatar

The timing on this is so funny -- I got my first Pfizer vaccine this morning and I've cleared my schedule in anticipation, stocked up on Amy's Kitchen frozen pot pies (my favorite "not feeling well" food), have cozy TV shows ("The Great Pottery Throwdown") saved up, my weighted blanket at the ready, etc. I'm self-employed and almost never take time off, and this resonated so strongly with me: "Of course, being able to clear my schedule in the first place is a privilege of the sort of work that I do — but with that malleability comes a general expectation of accessibility... Are you a person who needs rest and reprieve, or are have you wholly internalized the worst manager in the world and allowed them to shade every hour of your day?"

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