When Budget Needs to Take a Backseat

Well, it finally happened. It was only a matter of time with our scant safety procedures and Florida’s numbers rising exponentially every day, but yesterday one of my coworkers tested positive for COVID-19 and my school has shut down for the rest of the week.

I am scared and angry, most of all because my bosses don’t seem to be taking it seriously at all. They are doing the bare minimum that the law requires and I am shocked at how little that is. I thought that we would have to close for a minimum of 2 weeks, but apparently the requirement is only five days. I thought that all staff members would be encouraged to get tested, but in reality only 1 or 2 of the teachers in closest contact with the person infected were asked to be tested before returning to work, and many of us were actively discouraged from getting tested because the results might not come back in time for us to return to work on Monday.

The first appointment available when I found all this out yesterday was for Friday morning so I’m self-quarantining at home until then. The results likely won’t come by Monday but even if they come back negative, I think I have decided to take off work next week as well because I really don’t feel that it’s safe to return so soon especially if no one else is going to get tested, and it’s not worth the risk to my health and safety.

Making that decision is scary because my boss said that I might not be able to get paid next week if I choose not to come, and I only have a few personal days that I was saving for my birthday next month. I don’t mind sacrificing the birthday PTO for my safety, it’s just not even going to cover the entire week and I have to wonder about what will happen if someone else gets sick, if I get sick later on, or it takes longer before I feel that the risk has been contained reasonably enough for me to return to a job where it is impossible to stay socially distanced (you try to take care of a toddler including feeding and diaper changes without touching them).

So that’s where the budget comes in. I hate that I’m even torturing myself with guilt about not being able to reach my financial goals or what I’m going to do if I’m not paying off my credit cards as quickly as I want to. I should focus on being grateful that I was smart enough to build a savings at all.

When you’re fortunate enough to be able to build a savings account without having any emergencies pop up for a while, it can be easy to start thinking of that as money building towards something fun (like New Zealand), when in reality I need to face up to the fact that this savings is something I keep for just this situation. A few months ago, I wouldn’t even be able to think about staying home from my job because I would’ve been in the negative by the first week I didn’t get a paycheck. At least now I have a two month buffer to figure something out to protect my health and safety.

I am not going to die for my low-paid hourly job. I’m not even going to put myself at undue risk for it.

It’s only been one day so I’m hoping that the situation at work will change and the management will come together and release some better procedures to protect the staff and families, but this is one time I have to feel comfortable saying that the budget has to take a backseat. Debt means nothing to a dead woman and I’d rather ruin my credit score than die because of my job. I’m hoping I can return in 2 weeks to find better safety practices in place, but if not, I need to honor my commitment to myself and the people around me first, not my employer.

I’m hoping you all stay safe and healthy out there.