Anna Rinaggio, Campus Carrier opinions editor

The pandemic may be more or less over, but COVID-19 is clearly still around, not to mention the flu and hundreds of other mysterious illnesses that are going around campus. Wearing a mask to protect others was important to a lot of us during the pandemic, but now, there are plenty of people coming to class and work sick as can be without any kind of facial protection. We were great three years ago about staying home and masking up when we were sick, so why have we reverted to our pre-pandemic sick culture?

Part of the issue lies in the fact that our culture makes it very difficult to take a day off. If you have a job, you usually only have so many paid days off, and if you are a student, you only get so many absences. Even when you do have paid leave or excused absences, hustle culture makes you feel guilty for taking a day off no matter how badly you need it. You would think that after the pandemic, we would start to understand that taking time to recover from sickness is not a bad thing, nor does it make you a bad person. The reality, however, is that we’re still chastised for taking the necessary time off. 

That is quite frankly ridiculous, and it is something we need to change. The world is not going to end if one of your workers can’t come in because they are sick. In fact, they are probably going to cause more problems by going to work, as they will not be able to do their best that day and will put their coworkers at risk of catching it, too. If you are so worried about productivity, making someone come in while they are feeling bad is not the way to achieve that. 

Furthermore, forcing someone to work while they are sick is only going to prolong their illness and make them susceptible to getting sick again. If they are given the proper amount of time to rest, though, they can recover faster and give their all when they return to work. Contrary to the seemingly popular belief, forcing yourself to be productive when you do not feel well is not something to be commended; it is not a competition to see who can fight through the worst and do the most. 

As terrible as these expectations are, though, it is a reality we have to work with. Therefore, we as individuals need to take responsibility and be more courteous to those around us when it comes to illness. Viruses are going around like crazy right now, and there are plenty of sick people who are spreading their germs by walking around without a mask and not washing their hands nearly as much as they should. To prevent other people from getting those germs, we need to normalize the protective measures that we stressed so much during the pandemic again. 

If you’re feeling a little sick with a cough or runny nose and you aren’t quite sure what you have, do everyone a favor and wear a mask to class. Make sure you’re washing your hands fairly often, and avoid large, dense groups of people when possible. If you had plans to go out with friends or hang out in a large group, don’t try to be a hero and fight through it. No one is going to be mad at you if you can’t make it — all you would be doing is making yourself feel worse and putting others at risk for catching your germs. Nobody wants that. 

Sick culture is something we seriously need to work on as a society, and while we’re starting to see calls for change on social media, real change is slow to come. Rest is not a bad thing in the slightest, so let’s stop demonizing it. If you’re sick, stay home. If you have a little cold, wear a mask and wash your hands often. We’d all be happier and healthier because of it.