That Sounds Like A Lie, But Okay
Your friends ask you to come to a barbecue at their house next weekend. Everyone’s going to be there with their delicious dishes made from secret family recipes. The problem with “everyone” is that it includes your ex, who you have no desire to swap salads with. What do you do?
You could tell them you got called into work to do overtime on a huge project. Or maybe your kids have a doctor’s appointment? If those don’t sound convincing enough, you can just plan to not have an appetite or fake a hunger strike because nobody can make you go to a barbecue if you aren’t eating.