I have plenty of vacation time. I could take over a month off of work right now if I wanted to, and still have enough left to cover any sick days.

The problem is that I work a night shift, which comes with a pay differential at my job. But that differential doesn’t get paid out when I use vacation time. So if I take any time off work, my paycheck that week is significantly lower. Which is the reason I have over a month’s worth of vacation hours, because using them means getting paid less so I never end up taking any time off. It’s a fucking trap that I can’t get out of and it’s been driving me insane. I Just need some time off, but I also need to pay the rent.