Use the Pandemic As an Excuse to Cancel Vacation Plans
Some of us enjoy traveling or spending time with family, friends and colleagues while on vacation. Some of us don’t. For those of us in the second category, I have great news: you have the perfect excuse to give up any vacation plans you don’t want to attend. (If you don’t know what excuse I’m talking about: this is the pandemic we’re in right now.)
For starters, this is more than just an “excuse.” It’s a good idea to keep gatherings of any kind to a minimum, and avoiding dinners and parties – even socially distanced ones – is always the safest and least risky option.
But that doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy turning down all sorts of invitations this holiday season. This year we have a good reason to avoid plane, train, and car travel to people you may not want to spend a lot of time with, such as a large family that doesn’t believe in wearing masks, or relatives with dubious political views. …
On a smaller scale, you can avoid your boss’s holiday party, your neighbor’s cookie decorating party, or any other party that you might usually have to dodge.
“Oh, people won’t even have parties this year,” you might think. This is not true. If I’ve learned anything from these past seven months is that people who love parties will find a way to throw them, but socially distanced, heat lamp renting, outdoor party planners cannot compete with a simple “sorry, I just don’t feel comfortable at any social gathering right now, “because even the most zealous party-goers know it’s completely inappropriate to try to shame someone and get together right now (or at least I hope so) …
I love being around people, so I predict this holiday season will be a little tough for me. (The only thing I miss in my office job is a holiday party in the office.) But I can mourn the lack of fun holiday gatherings by appreciating this very little silver lining that allows me to politely decline invitations to something I didn’t want anyway, and I urge you to do the same. COVID is terrible. This pandemic is terrible. But at least it avoids all the bourbon bullshit you usually have to go through while eating your turkey.