Writer: Muntaqa Bari
Pohela Boishakh is around the corner and with that, hangouts/dawats with your friends and family are making their way towards you. Although holidays are ways to spend quality time with friends and fam, don’t feel guilty about wanting to spend that “one” off day in bed. Fret not! Here are a few fail-safe lines you can use to get out of Boishakh commitments without letting people know you are flaking out.
1. “It’s today?!”
“Are you sure? I was so swamped with work I lost track of the date. Shoot!” Then play the “humble” card. “Don’t cancel for me. I’ll make it up to you guys, I promise.”
2. “I already have other plans that I cannot get out of.”
This line is ABSOLUTE gold! Tell your family you have already made plans with your friends and (if necessary) also tell your friends you HAVE TO go to a dawat with your family because they are forcing you to. Now, with your schedule cleared up, you are free to stay home and binge watch The Good Doctor or whatever suits you.
3. “The summer heat really got to me; I have a terrible migraine.”
Polish up your acting skills because you have to be good at feigning for this. A hoarse voice, a frown on your face and even watery eyes will go a long way to fake the symptoms of a lethal headache. And if you have to lie over the phone, just get yourself an accomplice who can lie for you.
4. “I had the group messages on mute and totally missed all the planning.”
“My phone started to lag because of all the notifications and so I set all the group chats to mute. I had no idea! I didn’t see any of the messages until just right now.” This excuse never disappoints
5. “I need to catch up on some very important work”.
In your defense, work is a very vague term. Can you count copying up on your couch with a warm cup of coffee and a very good book, which you’ve been putting off reading because of your hectic schedule, as work? Sure you can, just tell them otherwise of course!