I told a friend who'd flaked on me for a movie that I'd tried to find someone else to go with. She told me it's rude to do so because it implies they were my second choice. Am I supposed to go alone then?
I'm frequently in the situation where I buy two tickets for a movie or show, make plans with this friend to go together, and then she flakes on me last minute.
In that case I try not to let the ticket go to waste and search for someone else to go with. I'm equally as happy to see any of these people (and take care to sound the part in my message), but yeah, when I invite people out the day of or the day before, it's clear that I initially made plans with someone else. The chances that anyone says yes are very slim anyway; people are busy. But I think it's worth a shot.
Recently, when I went out with this friend a while afterwards and talked about the situation, she told me it's insulting to invite people last minute after someone else had flaked on me, as it suggests I wouldn't have chosen to spend time with them otherwise. (Which is not the case, because I do make plans with these people as a first choice regularly.) The fact that this is coming from the very person who had flaked on me is more than a little aggravating. I do see her point, though.
In that case, is going alone the only polite or honourable thing to do? I already go out alone all the time, mind, so I don't have a huge problem with it, but it does kinda spoil my evening to find out it will be a solo night yet again.