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How do I explain that running an errand doesn't mean I can carry chairs all evening?

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My cousin saw my supermarket bag and said, "So you'll be fine helping set up the hall tomorrow."

I had already declined the chair-moving job because of my ongoing pain. The errand was something I chose and could leave halfway through. The hall setup starts at six, involves lifting and has a promised finish time. My cousin had taken me off the list, then put me back after seeing the bag.

I could help with ticket envelopes at home, but I am hesitant to offer. I worry that doing any part of the event will become another argument about why I refused the chairs.

I am following my own care plan and am not asking readers to decide what physical work I can do. I want to explain this particular difference without giving a pain score, an appointment history or a defence of buying groceries.

Would you restate the refusal alone, or offer the envelopes at the same time?

Discussion

2 community replies

"Please take me off the chair setup. I haven't agreed to that job." Deal with the changed roster first. The supermarket encounter did not create a new agreement.

You have already identified the difference you want understood: you controlled the errand and could leave, whereas the lifting job has tasks and timing other people depend on. That explanation is enough for the conversation; you do not need to prove a general rule about pain.

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