For years my wife and I had an arrangement: if we didn't want to do something and were being pressured by folks about it, either one of us could invoke the "my <significant other> won't let me". This was to avoid confrontations with those obnoxious folk who simply cannot mentally process the word "no" and can't stop badgering.
Sure, it made one of us "bad one", but it worked. It is interesting to note it was rarely used over the years. We found the alternative "I have to ask my <significant other>" worked much better. Most badgering types also have zero attention span, so if you escape their clutches when they are on a tear, they usually forget as soon as you have left. (thank goodness for a generation raised on Sesame Street)
One could argue that we're not telling the truth, but I find people who won't respect my initial "no" usually don't deserve much respect in return.
There's the alternate classic excuse that's equally often used: "I can't afford it". It's often closer to the truth in that if you don't want to do something, then you probably don't want to pay for it either - whether in money or time.
Of course now I'm getting old enough, and done enough, and seen enough that I usually just go with "i don't wanna" and leave it at that. ;-)
Sure, it made one of us "bad one", but it worked. It is interesting to note it was rarely used over the years. We found the alternative "I have to ask my <significant other>" worked much better. Most badgering types also have zero attention span, so if you escape their clutches when they are on a tear, they usually forget as soon as you have left. (thank goodness for a generation raised on Sesame Street)
One could argue that we're not telling the truth, but I find people who won't respect my initial "no" usually don't deserve much respect in return.
There's the alternate classic excuse that's equally often used: "I can't afford it". It's often closer to the truth in that if you don't want to do something, then you probably don't want to pay for it either - whether in money or time.
Of course now I'm getting old enough, and done enough, and seen enough that I usually just go with "i don't wanna" and leave it at that. ;-)