I’m so tired.
I’m sick as a dog right now. I have to choose between:
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Going into work and being miserable, making everyone uncomfortable, putting others at risk of getting sick, and prolonging my illness due to a lack of rest.
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Calling off work and missing an entire day of pay, losing all the OT I accumulated this week, and causing my (also suffering) coworkers to be mega understaffed on our busiest day of the week.
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Using one of my whopping 5 PTO days! I will never have two consecutive days off (retail) so using PTO kills me. An isolated day off does not allow me to fully relax, as I always either work or have work the next day. I never just have a day to exist. I’m so burnt out I can’t waste it on sick days.
Not to mention our job recently put up all of these different infographic posters about staying how when sick. Sent an email about it too. It’s insulting and infuriating.
I match the early symptoms of covid and at this point I want a positive test just to get the only 3 paid sick days this company can bother to give out.
Fuck the US. I’m so fucking livid that how many other countries in the world have WEEKS of PTO and unlimited sick time. I wish I could afford to leave this hellscape.
I had to move back in with my mom because neither of us could pay rent alone. Fuck $15 an hour with a college degree.
I know that other countries have it worse and that countries with 4 weeks of PTO have just as many flaws. But I can’t shake the feeling that the future is so bleak here.