"Usually it is illegal to go out during working hours"

This week, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, I am working at my main school. It's an unusual week because all of the students are studying online for these three days. Since May 2020, at least one of the three grades has come to school for in-person lessons, but not this week.

Many of the teachers at this school have their second COVID-19 vaccination appointment scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. Originally the second vaccination was set for two weeks prior but was delayed due to supply issues. It was decided that since teachers are being vaccinated on Wednesday and there are potential side effects from the vaccine, all lessons will be held online. Also, all teachers (except for me) can work from home this week.

About 5% of the faculty came to school on Wednesday. Naturally, without students and teachers, lunch was not served in the cafeteria. When this happened before, either because of holidays, inclement weather, or COVID-19 issues, staff were free to do what they like for lunch. Some teachers pack a lunch, while others go out to one of the nearby restaurants. I would typically go home and make my lunch there. It's only one minute away.

I received a text message from my co-teacher at 7:20am this morning explaining that lunch will not be provided for these three days and I should bring a lunch from home. She would bring milk, bread, eggs, and apples. She wrote, "usually it is illegal to go out during working hours." 

Of course, this was very surprising to me because I didn't know all those times I went home for lunch, and the faculty who had gone out for lunch, were doing something illegal. Not to mention that 7:20am before school was an unreasonable notice for something like this. I bought an egg sandwich and cookie at the convenience store on the way to work.

Come lunchtime, and just as my co-teacher was asking me what I brought for lunch, another teacher approached and asked if we wanted to go out for lunch together. I also saw several teachers grab their umbrellas and leave the faculty room. On a rainy day, it doesn't take a detective to conclude that they were going out for lunch. I guess going out for lunch was not so illegal after all.

While in a bad mood, I ate my cold sandwich alone at my desk, and then later walked throughout the school just to verify that teachers weren't eating together in the cafeteria or library. Some teachers had stayed at school while most others had gone out.

It was then I decided that I'm going home for lunch tomorrow, "illegal" or not.

I'm sure it was some kind of misunderstanding or more likely the natural neuroticism of my co-teacher, but I will not be stuck at the school while other teachers are allowed to go out to eat. Not going to happen. This is a hill I will die on.

After losing a night's sleep being angry and anticipating a confrontation the next day, I went to school and worked all morning. I did not pack a lunch.

I worked at my desk throughout the morning, waiting until lunch to assert by right to leave the school with the other teachers for lunch (when lunch is not served at school). About 30 minutes before lunch, my co-teacher left her desk beside me to work in the English room. As lunch approached, I supposed that I would have to have the confrontation after lunch if my co-teacher wasn't around when I left to eat.

Two minutes before lunch, I received a message from my co-teacher saying that she was in the English room. I was welcomed to eat with her there or I could eat at my desk. This is where I made my stand. In my return message I thanked her and said I was going home for lunch. 

Only a day ago, she wrote to me that going home was "illegal" and I had to stay at school during work hours. Yet, there was no confrontation. She merely said, "have a good lunch and be back by 1:20pm (when the lunch period ends)."

I suppose she realized that she was incorrect about the "illegality" of leaving school when many teachers left school grounds the day before. End of story, problem solved, victory for me.

I went to a restaurant beside my home for takeout. The restaurant was full, so I stood outside and waited for my food. In the fifteen minutes that I was waiting, I counted 12 teachers and staff leave the school for lunch. How in the world did she get the idea in her head that we weren't allowed to leave the school for lunch? 

She had previously given me other weird and wrong advice throughout the year, such as the bogus requirement to avoid showering after a vaccine, wrongly saying I couldn't join a gym, etc. I'm not sure, but I think she is so hyper-afraid of getting into trouble that she interprets anything and everything as a potential violation and tries to stay on the safe side of school policy. Naturally, she tries to prevent me from this imagined trouble, even if it is totally unnecessary and inconvenient for me. Never have I regretted disobeying or disregarding her wacky directives.