Man, I'm just done with the passive aggressive criticism from folks about taking my EARNED time off.
“Wow, it must be nice,” is and has always been code for “I work harder than you.” Well, suck my left one, buddy.
I also get shit from my boomer in-laws all the time about taking time off (and usually to do stuff with them).
“Wow, I didn't take a single vacation day for 45 years. I worked weekends and holidays. Sometimes 12 hours a day for weeks on end.”
Well, no wonder your daughter can't stand you.
Or worse, coworkers sending you work requests when they know you're out and are getting out of office responses.
“Hey, I know you're out and I guess this can wait until you get back…”
You're damn right it can wait. Or you can READ my automatic response and send it to any of the people on my team I designated. Like literally just a month ago we were taking our summer vacation and I was NOT checking anything from work. One senior director sent me no fewer than 10 work requests, accompanied by “I hope you'll find a few minutes to address this request as it is critical.” Nevermind we have an intake form in Asana specifically so we can manage requests.
Dude, again, if it's CRITICAL then send it to my VP or any of the FOUR people listed in my out of office notification, or better yet use the damn form. And when I got back I was called into his office – I invited my VP to join me – to explain why I didn't respond to CRITICAL requests. I again explained that I left detailed guidance in my out of office notification. His response? I never read those and furthermore I had an obligation to respond in a timely manner to requests from senior leadership regardless of my circumstances. My boss said that's insane, it's not policy, and it's not efficient. He has my back. It's just other a-holes. So many of them who are either jealous, self-righteous, or generally angry.
Look. I've worked at this place for almost 16 years and I am accruing more PTO than I can use, so when we are able to plan an actual vacation with the kids you better believe I am ON VACATION. And if you try to coerce me, shame me, or make my life harder because you think you're a harder worker than me? Oh well. Gen X sees what you boomers did to your health and your relationships because you never decompressed and prioritized some archaic sense of work purifies, or whatever. Get bent.