I abandoned an essential job in public health during the pandemic, to do freelance stuff like writing. I would have loved to stay in the public health field, but was unable to find a job that would let me continue working remotely, which was the ONE condition I had. The organization that I worked for last year demanded people go back to the office for no reason, during the delta surge, and were completely unwilling to compromise. So I left.

The same government organizations that are strained and freaking out because of a lack of epidemiologists are the ones who are losing educated, qualified individuals like myself over a lack of compromise on their end. And I’m low on empathy at this point. They can either get with the times, or get fucked.