For this reason, I usually try to accept offers for assistance (e.g. to drive me somewhere), instead of politely declining. We both gain value from the interaction.
There is the problem where some people don’t actually want to do the thing they offered, and they just said so out of politeness/habit. I figure that it is probably ok to accidentally accept these too, since either they will just retract it if they really don’t want to do it, or they will learn a lesson about offering things without being able to follow through.
For this reason, I usually try to accept offers for assistance (e.g. to drive me somewhere), instead of politely declining. We both gain value from the interaction.
There is the problem where some people don’t actually want to do the thing they offered, and they just said so out of politeness/habit. I figure that it is probably ok to accidentally accept these too, since either they will just retract it if they really don’t want to do it, or they will learn a lesson about offering things without being able to follow through.