When you phrase it like that, it sounds ridiculous. But for me, social events are a lot like going to the gym. It makes me anxious, I don't want to do it, I find reasons to avoid it, and then I'm glad I did it.

It's hard working up the motivation. It's easy to make excuses. Ultimately, it's good for my physical and mental well-being to get out of the house and see people. Having another way to weasel out of it guilt-free would be a net negative on my life for sure.

I mean, they could both have a little more backbone themselves and actually say to each other, "Oh wait. I don't actually want to go out today. Maybe we can plan something in the future. Have a good night/day/whatever." That's simply too much to ask though I guess.

I've met a lot of friends and found a bunch of hobbies by forcing myself to go to something I didn't think i wanted to go to, or was too nervous to attend because I was afraid of canceling.