Sorry for the slightly sarcastic title, but it is what I am feeling. My best friend “Claire” is a good friend. We have had issues at times since the pandemic began with boundaries, but after a few heartfelt, frank talks, I felt that we are in a better place overall.
My issue is this. I work from home, seeing patients for telehealth visits. I really enjoy my job, and while I do miss seeing people in person, transitioning to telehealth has been relatively painless.
Enter Claire. Claire is a SAHM with three kids on virtual learning. I think, like most of us, she is feeling the effects of isolation pretty heavily.
Claire doesn’t seem to understand that working from home does not mean that I can just do whatever I want. I do have some flexibility in my scheduling, but typically work a very average 9-5 day. I do get a lunch break and it’s nice to be able to throw in some laundry or run the vacuum, but I’m certainly not out getting mani pedis or massages during that time.
Claire wants to text all day, come over at random times, or frequently asks if she can come over when the kids are done with school. She gets her feelings very hurt when I say no, or don’t respond to texts right away. Recently she wanted to bring me a gift, which was very sweet, but became upset when she came, rang the doorbell, and I didn’t answer. I explained that I was with a client. She does not understand that I can’t put clients on hold to greet her, or anything like that. I’ve tried explaining to her that having her there is a HIPPA violation, and so on and so forth.
Frankly, this has left a bad taste in my mouth, and I’m not sure how else to broach it. I’ve been extremely frank, and she seems to think that I’m using work as an excuse to not see her. I also cannot commit to hanging out with her on the weekends because she expects it to turn into a weekly thing. Right now, I could only feasibly commit to once a month.
TL;DR- best friend of many years is struggling with loneliness due to the pandemic and relying too heavily on me for help.
Submitted February 22, 2021 at 12:40PM by elle_hopper011 https://ift.tt/2ZTSzA1
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