Look, this is a really sweet story about how we are all making do right now. I don't want to subtweet @jayvanbavel, whom I don't know, but he sounds like an awesome, caring teacher and dad. But reading this thread, and esp the responses to it, made me... pretty upset. Thread. /1 https://twitter.com/jayvanbavel/status/1308941880521097220

tldr: prof is stuck in elevator with kids, tries to teach large lecture course on zoom via phone anyway. It says a lot that we are so used to disastrous, stupid working circumstances this year that this seems natural. Why not, zoom has now brought our work *everywhere* /2

Commenters take this as a heroic story of perseverance. Students will remember this for ever, they say. There's even a comment about teaching class while caring for a mom in hospital during Covid scare. /3

A lot of people have no choice about working even when conditions are nearly impossible, even when their health is taking or their family needs them more. But some ppl do. What message do we send when we choose to work anyway? /4

When we try to keep doing business as usual even during an emergency, even during a health scare, etc. etc., those of us who have an option are telling our students and employees that this is the standard. This is what we're modeling. /5

Disclosure: I used to show up to work sick or in pain all the time. Then I'd lovingly chew out my student assistants for showing up to work sick. All of us would take ages to get better, because we kept exhausting ourselves and spreading our germs around. /6

Thing is, even though I was telling my employees it was ok to take sick leave with my _words_, my actions were telling a different story. I had internalized US "warrior" culture -- work evenings and weekends, work when sick, work when in pain so bad I nearly faint in class. /7

Was I really teaching a great class when I was crushed by pain? Or spitting blood out at the end because my throat was so raw? I mean, maybe. Adrenaline is a hell of a thing. But honestly? Those students would have survived a cancelled class. /8

So really, what I taught my students was: ignore your body's needs. While you're at it, ignore your family and your soul. Nothing ever goes above work, ever. Even doing half-assed work and killing yourself for it is better than balance. Because it shows dedication. /9

Again: so many people do not have this choice. This is horrible. But those of us who do could reflect on the ideology we've imbibed over the years, and on the subtle ways we pass on values that lead, very often, to burnout. /10

I'm not writing this to criticize any individual. I tagged the OP because I think this is a chance for a productive discussion. It's also why I've told personal stories of what I think of as my own mistakes in this respect. /11

(Though if I am honest, I think there's also an urge to prove that you are actually a workaholic to earn the "right" to criticize the culture of workaholism. See how I did that too? What a stupid rhetoric we are caught in.) /12

Some reading tips: I've learned a lot from @JonMalesic and @annehelen's essays on burnout. Both of them have books forthcoming on the topic. We need to pause more and think: if I have a choice, why am I making a certain decision? Why do I not even see my own choices sometimes?/13

Also, I would love to hear from you if you have made it this far. What are your thoughts? Feel free to tell me I'm wrong (this is Twitter after all). But I'm also interested in experiences where moving culture or life changes changed your perspective on work. /14

Another thing: there are no right answers. This year has taught us that. Sometimes you can cancel a day or a week, but if the disaster is long term you have to find a way to keep going. Sometimes it's even psychologically good to try to behave as if things are normal. /15

But I worry that we've lost the sense of what an *emergency* is. And one more thing: yes, this is all written from a position of privilege. But. /16

If the privileged & powerful buy into and uphold the "meritocracy of endless self-sacrifice", it becomes that much harder for everyone else to take care of themselves and their family. Impossible standards become the baseline. /17

Ok one more reading tip: if you can only give yourself a break if you promise yourself greater efficiency and productivity (rather than happiness, health, etc.), read @askpang's book REST to see that endless work is not even the best way to get good work done. /18