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Dani's avatar

So I fall into this category, though I had Covid in March 2020 complete with pneumonia and long Covid, but when I tested positive 3 weeks ago I unapologetically took 4 days off. I would have taken 5 but I tested positive on a Monday afternoon. My feeling is that BECAUSE of how awful the last 2 years have been and because I work from home, the last thing I want to do is give the impression I am working when I am functionally incapable of being productive. It serves absolutely no one, least of all me. I work for a hospital and after working through furlough weeks out of necessity in 2020, I have zero desire to go above and beyond when I know it only sets unsustainable expectations and will go unrewarded.

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Shannon O's avatar

Thank you for this! I was definitely raised in a culture of fear of losing your job and the best way to keep it was to be as accommodating as possible. My beloved mother, who was a unionized factory worker in Ohio, would always ask me “your’e not going to get in trouble at work?” when I would come home to be with her as she was undergoing chemo treatments or getting surgeries. (She actually worked in between treatments for breast cancer.) It can be a hard mindset to shake. Of course I want to do good work and keep my job. I love my job, thankfully! But also, work is not life, no matter how much I love my job—an idea I’m embracing more and more fully as I get older—and I will take the time I’ve earned. I will set up boundaries around my non-working time, because it is becoming more and more sacred to me.

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