Is she avoiding you? The reason most people don’t ‘tell’ you to stop texting

I don’t want your sadness or distress. I just don’t want you

There’s about 40 people I have muted and archived on WhatsApp right now. I don’t hate them, I don’t wish them ill, but my god are they annoying. Endless streams of reels and memes I don’t care about. Insipid ‘hi u up’ messages going back to 2021. Random articles I don’t and would never care about. Asking to hang out ten times in a row. Why not just block them, or tell them to shove it? Wouldn’t I have just blocked you if it was really annoying me? Because, sometimes, that’s just not worth it. It’s much easier and less effort to hope they just get bored, take a hint, and leave you alone.

Please bear in mind I never do this to close friends, people I know very well, or even just acquaintances I trust to respond reasonably. I will always try to have a conversation with you about needing space, not wanting so many messages, or not wanting to hang out again if it is at all possible to do so without losing clients, contacts, or loads friends. But if I’ve had that conversation, and they haven’t stopped, or I know they are unstable and likely to have a total meltdown or rage at me if I block or even tell them to stop, I will just archive you, or engage as little as humanly possible. This is especially true if I have to work with you, or it would negatively impact me at work or in my social circle to provoke you. But in case you’re wondering if this has happened to…