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When time is not money
Time is money, it is often said, but that doesn’t mean “no time” is equivalent to “no money”
We are social beings, but we are also economists: we interact with others in various social relationships, and at the same time these relationships sometimes make material demands on our scarce resources, notably money and time. These can be sizeable (a friend can invite us to her wedding on a Caribbean beach), or rather modest (an evening out with colleagues, with a show and a nice meal, or perhaps just a coffee and a chat with an acquaintance). Our inner economist will evaluate the sacrifices the invitation requires, compare them with the gains we stand to make, and advise us to accept or to refuse accordingly.
If we accept, no problem, but if we’re inclined to refuse, our inner social being steps up with a warning: what will this do to the social relationship and to our reputation? We may reconsider, but if we decide to decline anyway, we cannot simply say that we don’t feel like accepting the invitation. We need to come up with a good excuse. “Ah, but that’s the evening I wash my hair” might not quite do the trick.
Shifting the blame
Ideally, the excuse should lay the blame elsewhere than with ourselves. If we can say simply don’t have the scarce resources that…
