In 1789, Ben Franklin wrote, in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy, "...in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." These days, I'd amend this statement to "but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes and being pressured into going out on a Friday night when you would rather stay home and watch The Office for the millionth time." I feel pretty comfortable saying that you will be in a situation where someone wants SOMETHING from you. It's the way our society works, everyone wants something. If you're like me, and you don't like to let people down, you might get a little squeamish in these situations. I'm going to share with you seven sayings that work for me on how to get out of any situation and get your freedom back, guaranteed!
“No thanks”
Some situations are tough to predict the outcome. At a party and someone offers you drugs/drink/sex/unsolicited advice? If you don't know the person well enough, you might be unsure about how they react, especially if they seem to be inebriated. Try "no thanks" as a way to get out of that engagement. By saying "no thanks" you say that you are not interested, but you still remember your manners.
“No thank you”
Speaking of manners: "No thank you" is kind of like "No thanks"'s big brother. Stand up to adults and folks older than you by playing to what they like best, politeness. In a situation where someone is pressuring you to buy something? "No thank you."
"Nope"
Quick, easy, and straight to the point, "nope" sends the message to the recipient in record time. Saying "nope" shows that you're cool and laid back, but you're just not into it. "Hey, you want to come over this weekend?" "Nope." It just gets the job done.
"Nah, I'm good"
Going back to the party situation, what do you say when you are with friends and they pressure you into something you don't want to do? You simply tell them, "nah, I'm good." Example:
Friend: "Yo man, you wanna smoke some WEED??"
You: "Nah, I'm good."
Friend: "Aiight."
(side note: as a kid, when I had to attend those anti-drug classes and watch the videos, they always made it seem like drug users would come out of the woodwork and press you into trying their chemical of choice. Turns out, that pretty much NEVER happens. Thanks a lot, D.A.R.E.)
“Nah”
What if you are not good, but you don't want to lie to your friend? Shorten up your "nah, I'm good"'s to simply, "nah." Fun fact, here in the South we say "naw," because of our accents. Isn't diversity fun?
“¡No!”
Speaking of diversity, this one is for those of you who have to take foreign language classes. "¡No!" is how you say "no" in Spanish. Neat!
“No.”
Famous philosopher and poet, Meghan Trainor, said it best in her magnum opus "No." The lyrics go:
"My name is no
My sign is no
My number is no
You need to let it go"
All joking aside, what has helped me get out of awkward situations, back out of plans I'm not interested in, and turn away unwanted advances is to just say "no." Have you ever heard the saying "'no' is a complete sentence"? You don't need to make excuses for yourself if you are not interested. If "no" isn't good enough for the person you're turning down, they don't appreciate you and they are not worth your time.
