I read this comment moments after debating with myself over whether to call out tomorrow or not (and then finally making the call.) I’ve been sick for days and right now I’m lucky to go 10 minutes without sneezing.

The stupid guilt is so ingrained, I have to remind myself that resting when I’m sick is a good thing - not just for me, but for everyone I work with. This country has its priorities all backwards.

Also important to note a lot of social media tries to influence this as well. “Hustle and grind” is/was championed by corporations trying to extract more labor from people. Unfortunately because of that, many people see influencers with nice houses and flashy cars and fake morning routines and think that’s the key to success rather than being born/married into a rich family or being one of the 0.001% who gets super rich otherwise.

Not American, but I can tell you that it’s the same in Romania. I was raised from the start to believe that I had no value as a being unless I generated something. And it started well before Capitalism hit our country, these things were passed down generation to generation - I’m not just talking out of my ass on this one, I’d say roughly 80% of Millenials I’ve met in 34 years of existence in this country have shared at least the gist of my experience.

Grandma always told me “if your leg isn’t broken, you’re going to school,” and this happened while I was running fevers of 39°C and my face was leaking from every hole.

Nope! Relaxing, for me, is listening to music (wihout distractions, because I like studying the details), watching movies (in ways in which David Lynch would accept), playing a game, reading a book, etc. I’m honestly not all that attached to my phone in general, never caught my attention in any significant way (don’t do Social Media in general, don’t chat that much with people over text, mostly use it for calls, music, and some background noise when cooking, cleaning, etc.)