Generally when people invite us for few occasions, we will sometimes be in that critical situations that we are unable to attend the occasion we are invited for. In that case, though it is not possible, on their compulsion we attend it anyway. But after attending, we start talking on phones or engage in any other activity that is purely irrelevant to the occasion.   

In that case it would better be to avoid going to their place as it truly hurts those people seeing you engaged in some other issue. If you are totally absent, they will feel bad and later can understand the urgency you had.    

By Phani