You know that open mike night you're supposed to go see a friend play at on Tuesday? You don't really want to go, do you? And thanks to Lifehacker, here are several credible excuses you can use to get out of those plans:
- Be honest and say you don't want to hang out.Unless you committed weeks in advance or made it absolutely clear that you would not cancel, don’t feel obligated to go through with plans, particularly when you aren’t feeling up to it.
- Keep it a mystery.“I usually just go with the vague yet concerning, ‘Hey, sorry, something urgent came up last-minute, can we try to reschedule?”
- Blame it on your mental health.“I have very bad anxiety problems and it often prevents me from doing things. But maybe, ALLEGEDLY, I have said I am having a bad anxiety day when I’m really not,” an anonymous source said over Slack. “It lets me get out of plans while also making people feel bad for me."
- Say it’s the kids’ fault.“I mean, they always need a nap or have a school project or whatever,” Beth, our Vitals editor, said over Slack. Nick, one of our staff writers and a new father, uses this same excuse. “‘I’m so sorry, I need to take care of the baby tonight.’ It works even when it’s false because it's usually true!"
- Blame it on a hangover.My general go-to: “‘Sorry, I physically cannot go out—I had such a long night yesterday.’” Most people understand and commiserate with you when you say you don’t want to even be in the presence of alcohol.
- Say you’re having stomach problems.“No one wants to ask follow-ups and no one doubts me,” Virginia, our Managing Editor, said.
- Say you're just feeling off.“I definitely tend to use some variation of ‘Ugh, I’ve felt exhausted for the past couple of days and think I’m coming down with something,” Meghan, our Offspring editor, told me.
- Blame it on your “hectic” schedule.“I think my go-to line in convincing them that it’ll be better is if we just hang out another time. ‘We can do something fun next week when everything is less crazy,’” Joel, our Senior Video Producer, offered as an example.
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