i know this image has probably been famous two and a half times already but i am physically ill at the thought that some of you may not have seen it yet
A general tip for students who are sending those dreaded Religious Absence Emails to your professors: Rather than asking permission to take the day(s) off, politely let them know that you will be taking the day(s) off.
In other words, consider not saying this:
“May I miss class on [date] so I can observe [holiday]?”
It’s not that there’s anything wrong with the above, per se. But because it’s phrased as a request, it risks coming across as optional — a favor you hope to be granted. Problem is, favors are not owed, and so unfortunately asking permission opens the door for the professor to respond “Thanks for asking. No, you may not. :)”
Instead, try something along the lines of:
“I will need to miss class on [date] because I will be observing [holiday]. I wanted to let you know of this conflict now, and to ask your assistance in making arrangements for making up whatever material I may miss as a result of this absence.”
This is pretty formal language (naturally, you can and should tweak it to sound more like your voice). But the important piece is that, while still being respectful, it shifts the focus of the discussion so that the question becomes not “Is it okay for me to observe my religion?”, but rather, “How can we best accommodate my observance?
Because the first question should not be up for debate: freedom of religion is a right, not a favor. And the second question is the subject you need to discuss.
(Ideally, do this after you’ve looked up your school’s policy on religious absences, so you know what you’re working within and that religious discrimination is illegal. Just in case your professor forgot.)
Consider "I’m writing to let you know I won’t be in class on [date]” rather than “I will need to miss class.” The latter is still quite soft and you run the risk of an authoritarian still saying yes I understand you need to, but no you still may not.
You’re not asking. You’re not saying what you need. You are telling them what’s going to happen. It’s not a discussion. The only discussion is what you can do to make up the missed time.
Good advice for anyone who might need it this coming semester, especially since the High Holidays are almost upon us.
One of the first things I teach any young person working for me:
It is always “I am taking a sick day today” never “May I please take a sick day today”.
Labour rights are a thing. You tell your boss, you do not ask your boss.
Also, if they say no, re-phrase it for them in a follow up, to “clarify.” A lot of time when you ask them to explicitly say “You may not miss class for religious observance” or “You are not allowed to take this vacation time that you have earned, per your employment agreement,” – gosh, suddenly they change their mind.
tumblr trying to be like tiktok then trying to be like twitter then giving us the 3rd unreality inducing immersive ad, its staff members being condescending to the userbase, the marketing team trying to parasocialize their way into your pockets, youtube trying to do away with adblockers after upping the percentage of ads by 40% and making it so even if your video is demonetized watchers will still get them, youtube removing the dislike button then making it so you don’t get a home feed if you have watch history turned off, google being able to remove your synched bookmarks if they don’t comply with their policy, if i listed every way in which twitter has gotten worse in the last year this post will be as long as a novel, ai generated articles and images everywhere, google searches sucking ass in general, reddit charging for its api, KOSA being introduced into the US senate, tiktok in general, every social media under the fucking sun introducing log in walls, being unable to browse most sites on mobile from the sheer amount of popups taking over your screen WAUUUGH social media being products and thus requiring infinite growth and thus trying to introduce newer and newer shit that alienates its dedicated userbase. saturated sludge era of the internet
I love opening up this website first thing like the morning paper and immediately seeing multiple posts like “how to get rid of the evil clown on the dashboard”. like oh is this what we’re doing today
I’m gonna start adding this to every post I see about this advertising bs that tumblr are pulling
not only is it annoying, and in some countries probably illegal for not declaring a paid partnership
TUMBLR IS CROSSING THE PICKET LINE
They are taking money from Netflix to promote a show.
Actors and writers are unable to promote work because of the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.
Netflix is under the AMPTP, so it is a struck company, making One Piece a struck work.
So they are using alternate ways of promoting their products, including paying companies like tumblr.
Both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA have made statements saying that they consider anyone or company taking payment to promote struck work as crossing the picket line.
Tumblr is spitting in the face of struggling actors and writers to make a quick buck from Netflix
tumblr is not “crossing the picket line” by advertising for Netflix because tumblr is not a member of SAG-AFTRA or the WGA. Striking talent has stated outright that they want people to watch and engage with the work they’ve done and the series they’ve worked on, PARTICULARLY during the strike. The AMPTP needs to know that the things they make have VALUE to the common viewer.
They’ve encouraged film and television reviewers to continue reviewing. They’ve encouraged people to go watch the things they’ve worked on. Guild members can’t advertise their work, so NON-GUILD PEOPLE HAVE TO IN ORDER TO PROVE THAT PEOPLE WANT WHAT STRIKING WORKERS CREATE.
This ad campaign fucking sucks, but this is absolutely not what you’re posing it as. tumblr can’t engage in “scab behavior” because TUMBLR IS NOT A MEMBER OF ANY STRIKING GUILD.
I got very loudly deadnamed and misgendered multiple times at the doctors office today. This new receptionist ignored the preferred name on my profile to deadname and misgender me loudly, louder than she talked about anyone else in the waiting room. My birth certificate says “F” nex to sex, my medical documentation reflects this, and I was still deadnamed and misgendered.
And the saving grace was a woman and her child. I wear cat-ears and the child too young to speak loved them, and kept pointing and looking at me. I’m assuming her mother kept saying “yeah, she’s wearing cat-ears”, “yeah, that woman has cute cat-ears”, and the like. Her child was enamoured with them, and that woman didn’t misgender me once. And each time my very obviously masculine deadname name came up, she looked upset at the receptionist, but not once did she give me a bad look.
It doesn’t have to be much. You don’t need to be a knight in shining armour, or in someones face. Simply a quiet refusal to play along with someone elses bullshit is enough. It was enough to turn a trying and tiring moment into something that put a smile on my face and joy back into my life. It wasn’t a lot but it mattered to me.
