You've probably had a friend, family member, or even your own partner do this to you at one point or another: You make a request -- say, ask them to join you on a trip -- and instead of giving you a direct answer, they beat around the bush and keep you on standby forever. Rather than tell you "no," they simply let the hours and even the days go by until you get the point and proceed to do whatever it is you contacted the individual about on your own. How annoying, right? Why do people do this? It's quite simply, really. People hate being the bearers of bad news. For some people, leaving others out in the cold and letting their inquiry go answered is less painful than merely saying "no thanks." I've lost count of the many times my friends have done this to me. I've proposed going out on a Friday night, and they've responded with something along the lines of, "Hmm, let me look at my schedule and I'll get back to you." Alas, I ne...