"Why We Don't Take Sick Days": Teacher With Flu Goes to School at 6 a.m. to Prep for Her Absence
Published Dec. 13 2023, 6:08 p.m. ET
If you plan on using your work-sanctioned time off, you would hope that work doesn't find a way to worm itself back into your life on your self-appointed day off. Whether you need a mental health day, have a family emergency, or need to address a last-minute situation, your days off are important and deserve to be respected.
This is especially true for sick days. As the name implies, we're entitled to some time off when we're feeling sick to both recover and avoid spreading it to others.
It's no secret that rest is absolutely important during your sick days. But of course, teachers have it tougher than most even when they've come down with something.
Just ask Lexie on TikTok (@missfirment). As a teacher who had to take off sick, she had it especially rough when she still had to go to school to prepare for her own absence. She breaks it down in a viral video.
This teacher called in sick but she still had to go to the school before doing so.
With the cooler seasons, folks are more likely to get the flu. The same is true for a teacher like Lexie, who posted about being sick enough to have to use one of her sick days.
In her video posted in early December 2023, she had been suffering from the flu and needed to take the day off from work. Shockingly, however, her job didn't make it easy for her.
For starters, she had to log in her sick day via her work laptop, which she had forgotten at work. Already, her rest was being disrupted as she drove herself to her place of work to retrieve her computer and take the day off properly. You know, because being sick apparently isn't enough of an excuse.
As if that weren't bad enough, she reportedly "got sass" for suddenly taking the day off when the school couldn't send out for a substitute to fill in for her.
"This is why teachers don't take sick days," Lexie complained in her TikTok. "Not only do you feel like s---, but then you get half yelled at. Like, I'm sorry I have the flu."
To make matters worse, she decided to stay at school for a little while longer. Apparently, she still had to print out a sub plan for whatever sub might have been able to fill in for her despite the lack of said subs. She even debated eschewing her sick day altogether since she was at the school anyway.
After printing an impromptu lesson plan and worksheets for her students and emailing her front office about taking the day off even though she already called it in, Lexie was finally able to make her way home. But all the hurdles she had to jump through sound absurd.
When teachers are already overworked and underpaid on a good day, the last thing they need is to be sent on a guilt trip for being sick. Not only is that something that they can't always account for, but they're still people who need to recover from illnesses and ailments just like anyone else.
And after all that, Lexie still felt guilty for being sick even though she should have never been made to feel that way in the first place.
"I just feel like I don't do enough and taking a day is already hard," Lexie complained.
Preaching to the choir, Lexie.
