I worked in retail for a handful of years, and during that time, I have made great lifelong friends.

I worked in retail for a handful of years, and during that
time, I have made great lifelong friends. Because I am a hardworking, committed
employee, my boss/owner took notice and she promoted me to manager at age 17.
My fifth year working at the store, we hired a new employee, Lindsey, and we
instantly became great friends. We became so close that we were hanging outside
of work, and Lindsey introduced me to her group of friends. My new group of
friends and I became super close, where I would see them every day

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I worked in retail for a handful of years, and during that
time, I have made great lifelong friends. Because I am a hardworking, committed
employee, my boss/owner took notice and she promoted me to manager at age 17.
My fifth year working at the store, we hired a new employee, Lindsey, and we
instantly became great friends. We became so close that we were hanging outside
of work, and Lindsey introduced me to her group of friends. My new group of
friends and I became super close, where I would see them every day

                Lindsey had a lot of health problems, and
she would frequently call out sick. Being a manager, I had to take
responsibility and cover her shifts, even though I would have other
obligations. I requested the Fourth of July weekend off to go to my lake house
with my family. At the last minute, however, Lindsey called out sick, and I
received a phone call from my boss begging me to cover her shifts, which I did.
On July 3, my friend Rob invited me to come over to his family BBQ, because he
knew I was missing my family BBQ. He told me all of our friends would be there
as well, so I planned to head over there after I got out of work. I worked ten
hours that day, I was exhausted, but I wanted to see my friends. I pulled up to
his house, and I saw Lindsey’s car there, I was extremely confused because
Lindsey called out sick for the whole weekend, so why was she there?

                Lindsey did not seem the least bit sick; in
fact, she was socializing and having the time of her life. I could not believe
Lindsey just put me in this horrible position—I missed my family vacation
because she did not “feel” like working that weekend. If I ratted her out, I
would lose the new friends with whom I had become extremely close. As her
manager, should I tell my boss that Lindsey was faking it, even though we are
friends outside of work? Where does the line end between friends and employees?

Should I have just gone on my family vacation and not have
covered the shift?

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