Working While Sick: My White Response to Having COVID

Hi Everyone,

I got COVID. The fever came on the Sunday evening, ahead of a big launch deadline on Friday that I'd been guiding a small business toward for months. I thought of delaying the launch—for about a second. Instead I thought: I'm healthy, I don't get sick often or seriously, I'm adamant about lots of rest, so I can handle this. You can guess the punch line: I exhausted myself. The launch went fine, and two weeks later, I'm still warding off a cough.

The business owner and my other clients—all white—were gracious and supportive. I negotiated for naps, offloaded some tasks, reduced the length of meetings. It felt totally different, though, when my one Black colleague said in my request to meet, "I do not co-sign working with people when they're sick. Let's talk in a week." Her clarity wouldn't allow me to overlook what I had chosen to overlook: that there really wasn't an urgency to the launch deadline in comparison to my health; that my habit of being highly productive all the time is a kind of ableism; and that my assumption that I'd swim through COVID unscathed is just hubris. Those familiar with the characteristics of white supremacy culture will recognize many of them here, loud and clear.

I am taking my rest much more seriously now. And contemplating: what if I had delayed the big launch? What if the business owner and I said to her entire customer base, "Our project manager has COVID and her health—all of our health and well-being—is our biggest priority. We'll launch one week later and be a stronger community for it!". Honestly, I think her business would have thrived and I wouldn't be coughing right now.

April 2022 Back to Blog Home

Check out other pieces like this on Instagram.