I agree. People don't give a rip about what we're doing or not doing - unless they're desperate and want to try to talk us out of it. It's just none of their business - i.e. "TMI".
I personally ran into a similar situation late last week, having an early bite with a some folks because a good friend was visiting from out of town. This relatively new restaurant has a happy hour that starts at 2:00 pm with discounts on various small plate dishes. I wasn't drinking, but had my phone handy in case EOM calls came in, which they did. It was a fairly simple matter to grab my phone and head out onto the patio where there wasn't background noise to answer it. I had already booked something for later that day, but if I was open and got a call for right away, it would have to have been very worth it - and I wouldn't have discussed the circumstances.
One of the key reasons I decided to work for myself years ago is so that I would have the freedom to say NO whenever I choose. We set our own priorities and always have the right to decide - for whatever reasons are important to us - whether or not to take an assignment, without justification or explanation to anyone. The better companies seem to always be happy with a simple "I'm sorry, I'm already booked." They know that's a good possibility and really don't care what it is that has us previously "booked"...
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