I’m Trying to Get Along

But it’s getting harder

We had our kitchen cabinets painted this week

The painting contractor, a very nice man whose services we’d used years ago when we lived here previously, gave us an estimate that made our eyes pop, but that’s what good work costs these days. And his guys were good. They showed up on time, pretty much, every day, and did their work with care and skill. They treated us, our possessions, and our house with respect.

With one exception. Midway into their first morning, my husband thought it prudent to make sure they were vaccinated since none of them were wearing a mask.

They were not.

The previous evening, we’d had a phone call with the contractor regarding scheduling. He mentioned that his partner in the business, a man who was in his late fifties or early sixties, had succumbed to COVID a week and a half previously. Such a shock.

So it was something of a gob smacker to have these guys walk into our home, unmasked and unvaxxed. They were perfectly willing to comply with our request to wear masks, and they were diligent about doing so for the rest of the week, at least when we were home.

But still. They were inside our house! All three of them seemed polite and friendly enough, as long…