You know what really grinds my gears?

I feel I should preface this post with the following comment: I recognize that we all have our faults and that no one, myself included, is perfect. I pride myself on continuously growing, evolving, learning from mistakes and making every effort to leave situations and circumstances as a better man than I was when I entered.

With that said, I really can't stand it when people fail to follow through on things they say they plan to do. Case in point, I have a 'friend' (these quotations denote friendship in the loosest sense of the word...more like a long-time acquaintanceship) who never keeps his word. We recently made plans to attend a summer festival in Florida. When I approached him about the subject, he seemed excited about the prospect of traveling together and even asked me to firm up travel arrangements. That was on a Friday. I called on Sunday afternoon to talk about our upcoming trip. No answer. I called again on Sunday evening; his telephone went to voicemail after one ring...I left a message asking him to call me so that we could talk about the trip and determine how he'd pay me back if I made the reservations, etc. A week went by, no answer. Half of a second week went by and I received the most random email on my BlackBerry explaining that his telephone was either lost or stolen and that I should reply back with my cell number.

I'm no bloodhound, but I can certainly sniff out a pile of bullshit.

A week later I got a phone call from him. He was giddy and happy to hear from me. I was, according to him, confrontational and abrasive. I explained how disappointed I was in his immaturity and how he handles these types of situations (no, this is NOT the first time he's pulled this type of stunt). he really had no response, asked if I felt better about the situation and we terminated the telephone call (and probably our friendship.)

My question is, why do people do things like this? I completely understand that people change their minds about stuff. I have no problem whatsoever with committing to something, re-evaluating your stance and decommitting. Just be a man and say something. I might be disappointed that I have to change my plans, but I'd get over that. I can't, however, get over being lied to and deceived by a supposed friend.

I really hate to sound like a girl about this, but it really pisses me off. Actually, it really grinds my gears.