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Scripts: Explaining PEM
Short, true ways to explain delayed payback without a lecture — including the 'you look well' answers.
A keep-close version. Read it here, or screenshot this page to have it on your phone — print and PDF copies will appear once final files are attached.
Information, not justification: one line that informs, and then stops. These are written to be given once and reused forever.
The explanations
- The basic line'My illness gets worse after exertion, sometimes a day or two later, so I keep plans flexible.'
- The delayed-payback line'It's delayed payback — what I did yesterday can floor me today. It's why I plan the way I do.'
- The plans line'I can usually do the thing, just not always on the planned day — same invitation, flexible date.'
- The 'you look well' answer'Thank you — I look better than I feel. Today is a careful day.'
- The other 'you look well' answer'I rest before things, so you mostly see me on the days I've prepared for.'
- The stopping line'That's as much as I can usefully say today.'
You choose who receives the fuller explanation, and 'I can't make it this time' contains all the information owed to everyone else.