What am I missing with Clerics here?

[Rukelnikov]

Yeah, that time won't come until after you've had 2 to 3 encounters. The DMs I know, myself included, don't hand out free rests, be they Long or Short. Heck, I'm a lot meaner than other DMs I know, cause a single round of combat, even if its just a single creature sniping at you from 600ft away with a Longbow via a surprise round and then running off and disappearing into the forest, is enough to end your Long Rest and potentially net you a level of Exhaustion.

That's ok

You wanna short rest? Go adventure and do something that earns you that rest. You're not gonna get one from hanging around the house and doing shopping all day.

Characters could just jog for an hour or so and then cast a spell and rest. You can of course deny this, but you would be at the same time informing everyone this isn't a ttrpg anymore, its a wargame.