What about the friend? He went home disappointed - but he might have had a more unpleasant experience if the flight had taken place, regardless of the pilot having no problem in handling the conditions.
Passing 250', still over the runway, in a C152, I once asked for "immediate return due to pax malfunction" in a gusty crosswind, although I had warned him before the flight. (30 years since he'd been a radio operator in Hastings in the Indian monsoon.)