Ever get a text, read it, and proceed to put your phone down and continue what you were doing? Of course you have. We’ve all been guilty of this.

But why do we ignore well-meaning people? Even if we’re doing absolutely nothing and can very well answer their text, we simply don’t.

The people of Reddit have spoken about why they have a tendency to ignore text messages. Here are the best answers that have us nodding our heads!

1. They Just Don’t Want To

   “Sometimes I just don’t have the energy to converse with someone. I just don’t feel like maintaining a conversation at that moment.”

2. They Don’t Want to Spend All Day Talking

   “In some cases I don’t want to be stuck in an hour long conversation that is one side.”

3. They Simply Can’t ‘Human’

   “Why do people find this so hard to understand?? It’s simple I just CANT HUMAN right now. People act like your obligated to communicate umm no I’ll reach out when my personality resurfaces.”

4. It’s Not Urgent

   “People will call if they need to get hold of you urgently. Text messages are not urgent, under any circumstances. Ever. Either call me, or accept that I will read my messages when at a time that suits me. And that may take a while.”

5. No Energy to Reply

   “I just don’t have the mental capacity and energy to devote in order to respond appropriately. I’d rather ignore it until I’m in a better place to answer than send a thumbs up or something.”

6. They Don’t Want to Be Rude

   “Because my mood is already crappy from some other unrelated occurrence. I know I will be somewhat rude once I’m in a crappy mood, and I would prefer not to subject my family to my mood swings.”

7. They Just Don’t Know How to Answer

   “I can’t think of a response.”

8. They’re Too Lazy

   “I ignore text messages when I feel lazy and just can’t be bothered.”

9. They Get Distracted

   “Most of the time, I ignore because I genuinely forgot that I read their messages. I will open it and intend to reply, something will distract me and then I completely forgot that I read it.”

10. They’re Playing a Game

    “I’m playing, stop annoying me.”

11. It Doesn’t Require an Answer

    “Sometimes it’s something completely meaningless and I don’t think I actually have to answer.”

How often do you ignore text messages—and what’s your excuse?