Amayzine

Why we easily cancel appointments via Whatsapp

girl with phone next to a wall

I hate the ‘everything was better back then’ mentality because that's not entirely true. But I still want to talk to you about one thing: not keeping appointments and the strange reminders you first receive. The culprit? That's WhatsApp.

Situation: you make plans with a friend for about a week or two from now. February 9, Bohemian Rhapsody at 8:30 PM at Pathé De Munt. Without speaking to her in between, the chance is zero percent that you both stand there with a bucket of sweet/salty popcorn, while that used to be an unwritten rule.

‘Hi babe! Tomorrow is still on, right?’ We all send and receive those messages. By the way, we live in an age where without reminders our appointments don't happen, whether you're going to the dentist or the theater. First, a legion of emails, messages, and notifications rings about the upcoming appointment, while that reminder is actually the cue for a cancellation. The moment to safely cancel if you don't feel like getting off the couch.

Now that I read this back, I think: Lynn, you should be very ashamed. What an annoying new habit this is. And so I have come up with three rules that I will stick to from now on. Maybe you can benefit from them too.

  1. If I have a heavy head or a sore throat (because, well, that can unfortunately sometimes be the reason to cancel an appointment), a menu of choices comes with the following dilemma: either you WhatsApp to cancel the appointment or you go for a five-kilometer run and do fifty burpees after every kilometer.
  2. Rule number two is as follows: you may cancel the appointment if you claim to be sick, weak, and in need of Strepsils. But then you call to cancel instead of texting. I think if everyone did that, from now on 90 percent of what you write in your calendar would just go ahead. I really have to be in bed with a fever of 53 degrees, otherwise, I won't call.
  3. Being there is experiencing. Bring that FOMO a little bit up and just go. Because as the old Hawaiians always say: you’d rather regret something you did than stare uselessly at Facebook memes for three hours.

Starting with a resolution on January 25: should be possible, right?