DEAR MISS MANNERS: During the pandemic, I have encountered serious health, financial and legal troubles. I have always been there for family and friends, but when I needed their emotional support, most of them abandoned me.

I now know who my family and friends really are. As restrictions are lifted, I will see them at various events. I want to take the high road, but what can I say to let them know I want nothing to do with them because of their poor treatment of me and my situation?

GENTLE READER: Please don’t do this. Miss Manners understands that you have had a rough time, but so have countless others -- perhaps some of those people you feel let you down.

Loss of income, job frustrations, isolation and increased family responsibilities have all been commonplace. Illness, even if not from the virus, turned more worrisome as medical facilities were overwhelmed. With disrupted routines and frightening possibilities, moods have been affected and options have been limited.

Unless these people were off on a private island living the good life, any version of “Where were you when I needed you?” would sound callous.

Miss Manners understands and sympathizes with your having been swamped by your various troubles. Perhaps these problems precluded you from regularly checking up on your family and friends in case they needed emotional support -- and they may have been equally distracted.

If there is one thing that quarantining should have taught us, it is that we need one another. This is no time to be pitching your family and friends aside. Rather, when you are able to see them again, you should inquire about their welfare. Then, if they show a marked lack of interest in yours, you might reevaluate the ties.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I have a good friend who has always had some strange beliefs about medical issues: She won’t take any Western medicine, relies on “alternative” treatments and consults a “medical psychic.”

We are pretty sure she had COVID last year. She has told me she has no intention of taking the COVID vaccine and is going to rely on her “own healthy immune system” to fight the virus.

Doctors are saying people might get the new strains of the virus even if they already had the old strain. How do I tactfully tell my friend I will not be wanting to see her in person as much as I used to, and will not go to her house or invite her to mine?

She is about 12 years younger than me. I feel like I need to protect myself a little more than when I was younger. She also has a bit of a temper, so I’m nervous about approaching the subject with her.

GENTLE READER: And it sounds as if it would be pretty useless to do so.

It is also unnecessary. You do not need to build a case about why you decline, or do not issue, invitations. “Thank you, but I’m not going out yet,” and -- if she is so bold as to invite herself -- “I’ll let you know when that is possible” are sufficient responses.

(Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I have a very close friend group of six people. Four of us have been friends for 30 years, the other two for about 10 years. I was close with Friend Five separately for 20 years, and introduced her to the group because I knew she would fit in. Another member introduced Friend Six.

For a long time, things were great! Outsiders were jealous of our friendships, wishing they had friends who were so close.

But nothing lasts forever. I found out that Friend Five, who is married, was having an affair with Friend Six.

I had suspected something, mostly because Five stopped calling and texting me. She used to invite me to go to the movies all the time, and that stopped. I used to invite her to the beach, but she said she wasn’t a “beach person.” Then I found out that she was going to the beach with Six, often, and staying at her house overnight. They have also traveled out of town together, only telling us about it when they were about to be caught in a lie.

Before this affair, we all did things together. After the affair started, the invitations from Five and Six just went to one other person in the group, who told me she felt like she was invited to be the alibi.

I am hurt because I feel that Five is choosing to spend time with Six instead of me; there is no time in her life for me. I have struggled with this and have needed counseling. My husband says that everything changes, and accepting change is a mature thing to do. I don’t want my friendship to change due to her affair. That’s not fair.

I confronted Five, saying I felt betrayed. She responded that she and Six didn’t want to hurt anyone, and that they couldn’t help who they love. She said they had decided to end it, but remain friends -- but I have seen Five’s car at Six’s beach house several times since she told me it was over.

How do I handle this? Do I confront her again and tell her how I feel? Or do I really have to let her go? I don’t want to stop hanging out with my other friends, but I almost feel like I need to. Being with the whole group gives me anxiety and makes me angry.

GENTLE READER: Five is lucky to have you as a friend. You are assuming all of the potential guilt and consternation for her. Attention to your own emotional state might be useful.

Miss Manners does not suggest that you approve of your friend’s decisions, but she does agree with your husband that you cannot prevent change. That seems to be the real source of your anger. People divorce, move, have children and adopt pets -- all of these things can change the dynamic of a friendship.

If you wish to remain friends, you accept the inevitability of change, even if you do not condone its cause.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: Upon entering a meeting room, who makes the first greeting? The one coming into the room, or the person already inside? This came up in general conversation at work.

GENTLE READER: “Welcome” is usually the first greeting and is therefore best issued by the person already present. This should not be said sarcastically to a latecomer.

(Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I was recently reminded of a situation in which I acted badly. Due to COVID restrictions, this is not a scenario likely to come up again soon, but I am hoping you can tell me what the mannerly approach would have been, so I can do better in the future.

Last year, I was invited to a cookie decorating party. My job is to work with children who have significant behavioral challenges, and it had been a particularly stressful year. I declined the invitation, stating that I was too stressed out from work to go. (It had been the kind of year where, when I got home from work, I would crawl into my bed and hide under my comforter for a couple of hours.)

The day of the event, my friend called to ask me if I would reconsider and attend her party. The truth was, I had declined the invitation because I suspected kids might be in attendance. I’ve found that when work is really stressful, I cannot be around children because I cannot turn the “teacher” off. In a weak moment, I thought I’d just tell her what the problem was: I asked her if kids were going to be there, and told her that it was a point in the school year where I couldn’t handle being around children.

She responded pretty coldly and told me that she couldn’t tell parents not to bring their kids. Then she gave me a weird lecture about how parents deserve to go to parties and have social lives, too.

I had zero intention of trying to change her guest list; I just wanted to know if kids were coming, so I would know not to be there.

I do understand that you can’t ask who is coming to a party before you accept an invitation, but is there any polite way to inquire about whether children are expected?

GENTLE READER: At a cookie decorating party? Miss Manners would think that you could have made a pretty educated guess.

Avoiding a whole category of people, rather than irksome individuals, does not make the excuse any less rude. But your friend also should not have pressed you on what was an otherwise politely declined invitation.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I have been thinking about whether or not my gift to a charity in a couple’s name was rude. The wedding couple had requested no gifts, but to make a donation to a specific charity instead. They included a box at the reception in which to place donations.

I could not support the charity’s mission. After careful thought, I made a donation in the couple’s name to a highly respected local charity, whose mission is not controversial.

I never received a thank-you, and I wonder if I have offended. Should I have just not sent a gift?

GENTLE READER: As Miss Manners does not believe that presents are fungible, she sees no harm in either following the couple’s desire not to receive anything or in substituting a real gift.

Substituting a different charity was an unfortunate middle ground. It underlines your unhappiness with the intended charity while forgoing your opportunity either to claim that you could not contain your generous impulse to give them something for themselves, or to claim that you were never good at following directions.

At this point, the wisest course is to acknowledge that the wedding is over and act as if everything is fine.

(Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)