COVID-19 concerns take over

DEAR AMY >> I recently had a conversation with a friend that I am still ruminating about.

She shared how she used a loophole to get a COVID-19 vaccination that she really wasn’t entitled to receive.

It was as if I should be impressed with how creative and smart she was to game the system.

She then went on to describe how she will now be comfortable eating in restaurants, etc.

I said I was happy for her and changed the subject so I could take time to process this.

Our family is trying to stay patient and wait our turn.

Thoughts?

— Waiting

DEAR WAITING >> There are stories of people standing in line outside vaccination centers to try to receive shots that would otherwise be thrown away if they weren’t used. I’m all for that kind of enterprise.

However, if your friend leapt through a loophole to snag an appointment before her turn, that’s completely unethical.

I have read accounts of how some people have used their connections, money and privilege to game the system.

Ask yourself, when do we learn important truths about people? During times like these. Your friend is showing you who she is: She is someone who would jump the line (ahead of others who are classified as at greater risk) in order to eat out at a restaurant a few weeks earlier than if she had waited her turn. And she is bragging about it.

DEAR AMY >> I have strong feelings about who I will see during the pandemic.

I have very little contact with my friend “Marion.” Marion is 62, and a nurse practitioner (but in management, so she is working from home).

Thirty years ago, Marion had breast cancer, but otherwise she is healthy. I am 60 with an autoimmune disease. I work from home.

Marion goes to the hair and nail salon. She meets her trainer at the gym, and meets friends at outdoor tented restaurants.

She shops in the grocery store.

I would love to do those things, but I use hair color out of a box and put my hair up in a bun. I order my groceries online.

I expressed (oops) that I think it’s wrong that people are going out to hair and nail salons. She thinks I am being overly cautious and that I don’t understand.

We both have strong feelings about this, so I am afraid it might end our friendship.

Tell me if I am being too judgmental.

— Trying to Stay Healthy

DEAR TRYING >> You have the right to your opinion, but your opinion about what is right for you doesn’t mean that it is right for others. Given your health risk, you are wise to be very cautious.

You are taking good care of the most important person in this equation: You. But yes, you are being too judgmental.

The pandemic has stolen so much from all of us; don’t let it take your friendship, too.