Humans are social animals. I always wondered why this statement existed in my environment textbook when I was a kid. And it was repeated over and over as I grew up, by different people, in different ways. The term socializing meant nothing at the start of the century, but over a period of time turned into a fashion statement. But betrayals in friendships, love and family sometimes lead people to a different path. They stop socializing or better yet, limit their social circles.
There is however, an entire breed of people who limit social circles right from the start. We label them, introverts. Maybe they do not like people, maybe they did and had a bad experience. Or maybe they just like to pursue their own interests. As most nerdy villains point out when they reveal their wicked plots in movies, “I was disappointed in mankind”, that too could be a reason why introverts are, the way they are. I know I am kind of an introvert too, but thats mostly because i am socially awkward and like reading books more than meeting people. Fending off social conventions to be at peace with oneself is an art I am learning to master. But you will need an excuse to avoid socialising. Sometimes, the desperation to avoid meeting people leads to the untimely birth of classic excuses. Lets try and take a look if the below seem applicable and believable.
1. Need to go for a Matrimonial Meet Up
Now this is something that no one can question you on. You can always cook up this reason and most of the people you are avoiding will rather be happy that you are trying to get married. I do not know what it is about people, that they get happy when someone is getting married. Anyways, you can always conjure up a conversation you had with your imaginary matrimonial prospect and then say,”We are going to take it slow for now”. Then you can end up saying,”It did not work out”.
2. My Spectacles are Broken
Its weird that most people with spectacles end up breaking them in the most unimaginable way. Like sitting on the pillow while the glasses were under them. Mistakenly breaking them by rolling over them in sleep. It is pretty simple and believable too. You can always say later that you got an identical one since you liked the frame so much. (Heck someone might even end up gifting you a new frame).
3. Landlord’s untimely visit
Most of us live off rent in apartments that are given by landlords who are hunting a reason to throw us out. You can provide this reason that you just received a call from the landlord who is coming for a sudden visit since he is in the locality. You need to clean the apartment and make sure everything is neat and hence can not go out for now. (I have used this several times, pretty believable.)
4. The Curious Reader
Most people do not understand why someone would read a book when you can watch a video. (No offense, Netflix and Youtube are providing serious justification to this belief). But a book can be pretty interesting if the plot is laid out properly and the characters are relatable. Now you are at such a juncture in the book where in the killer has the lead detective on the case, cornered on the roof of a skyscraper. A helicopter is throwing light on the killer and suddenly he disappears. Wouldnt you want to read on, find out what happened? So no socialising for now, just the book please.
5. Family visit in nearby town
Most IT employees have weekends off and there is usually not a lot to do. So people generally prefer to hang out at places, maybe crib about office and what not. This is fine to a limit but after a while it gets boring. So say you have a family in a nearby town thats maybe 2-3 hours of journey and say you need to be there over the weekend. The Mumbai-Pune connection is a nice example of this excuse to get out of socialising.
6. Stomach infection
Now the not feeling well thing is kind of hard to stick to and most people will offer a temporary relief medicine to still make you go out. But a food infection is something that everyone will understand (have no idea why, but people always seem to get all sympathetic towards a bad stomach). Plus, there is no good alternative to an upset stomach. You literally cant eat or drink without being extra careful.
7. Phone Battery Died
You can just switch off your phone and keep doing whatever you were doing. Since no one was able to reach you on time, you can just easily blow the whole thing and not care. Its weird but it always works unless you have a bunch of friends who will tear down your front door and put your phone on charge and then take you out. In that case, I do not know what you will do.
Introverts are not actually introverts, but more of Selectively social humans. Or are they?
I do not know. But when it comes to making excuses, the more innovative the better. I hope you keep innovating your excuses and come across a few good ones from time to time.