I’m in the last category who will be offered the vaccine, so I probably won’t be vaccinated until the summer, or even later. My ability to safely resume these activities may therefore depend on whether the service provider is vaccinated.
What is the etiquette around inquiring about this? Is this a question I can or should ask? If so, is there a right way to do it? I usually feel like a person’s medical history is their own business, but the pandemic has upended so many other social norms. Did that change this one as well?
Avoid intrusions in another person’s medical history has certainly become more difficult, but that’s no reason to give up.
Your concern, Miss Manners would have thought, is not whether providers have been vaccinated, but the broader question of what steps they are taking to minimize the risk of infection.
This is a perfectly appropriate question. You won’t have done anything wrong if they voluntarily give up their vaccination status, just as you are free not to come back again if their assurances don’t allay your concerns.
Dear Miss Manners: Our 40-year-old neighbors ask us to take care of their cat when they are away for more than one night. It’s usually around four days, and we’re happy to go next door to make sure the cat has fresh water and food and to give it time.
When we had a dog, those same neighbors insisted that we didn’t take her on board when we were traveling – often for 10 days to two weeks – because she would be better off in her own home, and they were happy to come to her. give people food, water and time. I always brought them something from our travels, or I gave them something as a thank you gift – a basket I made, filled with homemade goodies, for example.
We recently took care of the cat for a few days – Thursday through Monday maybe – and as a thank you received some really cute homemade warm pillows and a $ 50 gift card. The previous era was a $ 50 gift certificate to a local restaurant.
It is too much for the little that is asked of us. We would love to return the gift card to them, but we don’t want any hurt feelings or make them think that they can’t ask us to watch the cat in the future. Help?
Refuse gifts already given is an insult, so Miss Manners wishes you joy with the heating pads and the gift card. But it will be lovely when you assure them that you love Sugar and that you are so glad you can return the favor after all these years of taking care of Chester.
