Is 'No' really that hard to say?

So part of my frustration yesterday stemmed from being ignored instead of just told "no."

I'm not sure if it's me as the recipient or if it's the other people... but I'm tired of having to assume that silence means no.

Don't get me wrong - that is a perfectly logical conclusion to draw. I'm just tired of continually having to draw the conclusion.

I'm the first to admit I have a hard time saying no myself. I tend to do things that I shouldn't do (based on time or money constraints) because I didn't say no. But for the most part, these are things I WANT to do. Do I want to hang out with my friends instead of study for my 9 am class? Of course! Should I have said no? Probably.

So I'm not sure why people don't say no. Do they assume that by ignoring the phone call/email/text message, it will be like it never existed? Do they think my feelings (or feelings in general) are so fragile that I will fall apart at the mere hint of a no? Do they think they'll get the Spanish Inquisition at a no, and thus have to come up with some elaborate story for not wanting to do something? Is that word just missing from their vocabulary? Who knows.

Can I do anything about this? No. I've tried... with additions to emails like 'let me know either way' or 'it's no big deal if you can't' but those don't seem to help either. But honestly is it really that hard to respond to an email with 'sorry I can't' or 'no thanks'? I promise I'm not going to ask why not, I might say 'boo' or 'sad' but I'm not going to give a guilt trip, and I'm not going to throw a tantrum. Hell, I may even let you have the last word on the subject.