I’m coming on my annual faculty review soon, and I will say 2019-2020 has been an unproductive year. Admittedly summer 2019 I may have spent some time having fun (wedding, joyriding down the southern Atlantic coast in a @Ford Mustang, Broadway) but...[thread]

I had to do everything myself this year. From December-March, I was moonlighting like crazy to save up enough money for a house, look for a home entirely by myself (with a realtor), research mortgage options by myself, close by myself, look for outlet furniture sales by myself

I don’t in any way discount the difficulties in having kids, but people often think single people have it so easy, how are you not publishing 20 papers a year? News flash, having literally nobody to do the “heavy lifting” for you (literally and figuratively) is not a vacation

Nearly all of my friends and colleagues are married or partnered, and having someone else to help out with the house hunt when you are busy on service or in the lab makes a big difference in your productivity. I do what I can, but I have barely had a day of rest the last 7 months

Between moonlighting, #COVID19 and the chaos it created to my schedule, and buying a home now that, thanks to @GovWhitmer, I don’t have to think about the virus all the time. Single mothers (and fathers) have it worse than me by far, and I have mad respect and awe for them.

Also, I think about the fact that Dr. Kari Jerge and ORBarbie, who were both bullied off #medtwitter, are single women surgeons. I’m not here for the drama, but they weren’t either, and nobody cut them any slack because their life is sooo easy.

My parents live locally, but are older and #COVID19 risk, so I minimize their exposure. Do I wish I had a second (reliable) person around? Someone who would make my life easier rather than harder? Sure. But anyone who is mad af me for being a “bad friend”, live a day in my shoes

And I guess the point of this thread is, if someone is not “academically productive”, take into account life circumstances. There are not lines in a resume for buying a home on your own, or a bitter divorce and fighting for child support, but that doesn’t mean they don’t matter