People who are persistent and obnoxious don’t deserve your polite resistance. They are like the stereotypical salesman who sticks his foot in your door as you try to close it on him. Keep saying ‘no’ and tell him to stop asking. What is the nature of your friendship anyway? Is this a person you enjoy other things in common with? Do you see each other socially, outside of this pandemic?

I tend to be totally honest about these kinds of things. I had a friend who kept trying to borrow money. When I gave her some, she never paid me back. She had a gambling addiction. So, I never gave her any money again. She kept pestering me about it. I kept saying ‘no’ and asked her to not ask me again. The answer is ‘no’.

Shortly thereafter she provoked a fight with me and never apologized or called me again. This was a lifelong friend. That was two years ago. She was just a user was sadly the ultimate truth. If she’d have borrowed money and paid me back and not have been a user in many ways, I’d have let her borrow what I could and continued the friendship. The using was not a friendship. I was just a patsy to use and she only pretended to be a friend.