Busy as Cop-out?

Found a new (to me) blog today in which Marissa Bracke discusses why she stopped working with “busy” people, and then delves further into the notion that saying you’re “busy” can be a cop-out. For example, you get invited to an event you really don’t care to attend so you just say you’re busy.
This reminds me of something I read in The Writer magazine a few years back. Sharyn Crumb, a mystery writer, was quoted [and I'm paraphrasing here] as saying, “when people say ‘I don’t have the time’ or ‘I’m busy’ what I hear is ‘It’s not enough of a priority.’”

Since I read that, I’ve found myself being more conscious of both how I use “I’m busy” as an excuse (to not write, to not blog, to not do whatever it is I’m procrastinating around) and of how others use it with me. After all, if you invite a friend to coffee or lunch and they keep coming back with “I’m busy”, clearly your friendship is not a priority for them.

How about you? Are there certain people and/or situations you can always “find time” for? Certain people for whom you’re typically busy?