Generation late? Cancellation nation? (Or are we all just a bit rubbish?)
Today in news-we-know-but-wish-wasn’t-actually-true, Brits are brilliant at making plans - and even better at cancelling them (with a list of poor excuses, to boot.)
Whilst you may be reading this thinking it’s everyone else but you, a study of 2000 people revealed that the average Brit makes 104 social arrangements every year – but will only actually turn up to half of them.
Sound familiar?
Erhem... The research, carried out by Mentos, revealed the extent to which Britain has become a ‘cancellation nation’ – with one in three admitting they say yes to every invite - whether they intend to go or not and 30% happily saying yes to anything to avoid hurting friends’ feelings.
The most legit reasons for cancelling plans might sound a bit silly in theory - 49% cite being too tired and 36% say simply wanting to stay in are reasons enough for backing out - but when we think about it, we’ve defs all been there. But a fairly-shocking one in ten of us have also claimed that the fear of missing out on our favourite TV programme is a good enough reason to cancel on people.
Can you get actual FOMO when it comes to TV? Guess so...
And it would appear honesty is not the best policy as we love dreaming up poor excuses - even when they’re not always believeable.
Here are the best bailing excuses according to the study which include (but surely aren't limited to):
1. Faking sickness - 60% A lot of us have staged a Mean-Girls-style cough, it seems.
Source; Tumblr/realitytvgifs
2. Saying we've ‘double booked’ - 20% Highly possible considering we're all just so busy, but we still hope no-one ever finds out.
Source: Tumblr/Louisossokoh
3. Pretending we’ve 'mixed up' our days - 18% 'Oh no, I can't believe I thought it was Wednesday!'
Source: Tumblr/Vogue-served-rogue
4. Claiming we have sick children when in actual fact, they are alive and well - 15% Extremely naughty but who would questions this?
Source: Tumblr/Asiagocheesin
5. Wheeling out the ‘I’m waiting for a delivery’ line - 10% The only delivery we'll be waiting for is the pizza delivery
Source: Tumblr/Coleronipizza
Technology also contributes to our flippancy with plans and 80% of us admit that it's so much easier to cancel in this day and age because of email, text and messaging apps - meaning of course, that we don’t actually have to face the wrath of anyone IRL, and unsurprisingly, text is the favourite way to pull out of plans.
And the study also found work colleagues are first in line to be blown out, with home friends coming second. Although 62% of us do feel guilty if we cancel, other social analyses has revealed that loneliness is on the rise in the UK, with a significant number of us also finding it hard to open up to others. It seems, staying in contact with friends must contribute to our to overall happiness, so it's sad so many of us can no longer make the effort.
Speaking on the study, psychologist Dr Linda Papadopolous agreed, saying: ‘Stepping out of our comfort zone and making fresh connections is good for our physical and mental wellbeing. We all need to make the time to say yes because the simple act of getting out and connecting with new, and old friends is so important.’ Ok, so if we could now just figure out the most tactful way to reschedule that cancelled coffee-date, we’ll be winning…