Is AUTHOR wrong in the post ? POST : So a few weeks back I moved from the Midwest to Montana for my masters. I'm in a weird place in my life where I don't have many friends and no real relationships outside of family back east. I am also terribly awkward in social situations, but I don't really mind being alone. I'm also the last person you'll find drinking. We use EtOH to preserve specimens so I'm around it all day. I haven't really been "out for drinks" since I turned 21.

I love my work, which is good because I spend at least 50 hours a week on it. (This is pretty normal in my lab) Between general lab work, specimen loans, and my own project, I stay pretty busy, which gives me an excuse to avoid most social situations. 

My workspace is directly across from another students, let's call her Bee because she works on Bees. We are on good terms, both being being new students from the Midwest, though she's much more socially proficient than I am. 

Another student, let's call him L, came in and we all started talking about various odds and ends, he was heading out for the day and wanted us to let the PI know he'd been in. L is sharp as a tack, and is one of the better researchers in his field, he remembered my birthday, which I think I mentioned once in passing is the 3rd. Bee and L started talking about bringing food in and organizing something. This made me feel a bit bad because it had been Bee's birthday a few weeks prior and we didn't do anything for it besides wishing her a happy birthday (Though she does have family in town to celebrate with).

Anyways, they eventually decided that we would have a party after work on Monday. Nothing fancy, just the lab going to a local bar. They were so excited about it and I didn't want to tell them that I would rather just work until seven and go home. But now I feel like I'm on the hook and am sort of dreading it. 

I know they just want to make me happy and I really appreciate the gesture, so I will be attending, and I will do my best impersonation of an extrovert, but I feel like a dick for not telling them I don't want it, and I feel like it would be similarly dickish to cancel their plans, when they seemed so happy discussing them. 

So, AIAA for not wanting to go to my birthday party?

Also socially adjusted people of Reddit, am I handling this the wrong way?