Excuse me, PLEASE!!!

The dog ate my homework! It’s a classic statement tinged with humor, often associated with kids who invent flimsy excuses for not bringing their homework to school. But let’s leave the little ones aside for a moment. 

The expression of the dog eating the homework can actually be traced back to the early 20th century. An anecdote appeared in a 1905 issue of the magazine The Cambrian about a Welsh minister blaming his dog for eating his sermon notes.

So can we say that adults are immune to making excuses, getting defensive, and worst of all, blaming others? Unfortunately not! Let’s look at some of these universally used explanations. I came up with a list of ten such justifications that people present.

The guests who do not make it on time!

It can be embarrassing if you are the tardy one at a party. For most people who arrive late, the traffic is the most cited villain. The lines you get to hear are: “All the lanes were packed. The cars were moving at a snail’s pace!”

The reasons for never answering the phone

Old habits die hard, and some people rarely pick up the phone. They take your call only when it suits them. The list of excuses for not answering is endless, ranging from “the phone was on silent” to “my battery died.”

Excuse for taking a leave of absence

Sometimes, the loyal bedside clock may go haywire, with the alarm not ringing at the right hour. One has to go to work, but he or she wakes up late and can’t make it on time. The mind works fast, and boom comes the idea: “Let me call in sick!”

Blaming the co-passenger

The spouse behind the wheel is inattentive to the GPS directions and takes the wrong route. The blame is immediately shifted to the other partner who was talking right before that: “You distracted me; I missed the road because of you!”

Leaving the wallet at home or in the car

There is this stingy spender who does not like to pay. So when it comes to giving their share at a restaurant or some place, you get to hear about the missing wallet. “I’ll pay you back next time, ok?” Don’t be surprised if “next time” never comes.

Was the email really amidst junk?

The email may have comfortably sat in the right folder all the time and must have been read too. When questioned about it, pat comes the reply: “I did not get your mail; it must have gone to spam.”

Always the busy bee

“I’ve been meaning to call or text you, but I’ve been neck-deep in work,” comes the familiar explanation from an acquaintance. A few times, you nod and believe. But say it one too many times, and suddenly it sounds less like dedication and more like a well-rehearsed excuse.

The common pharmacy line

“My medication should have been ready by now,” you say at the counter. There is always a ready-made response: “Sorry about that, but we have lots of back-orders to take care of.”

The gym excuse artist and the victim with a sweet tooth

Someone is guilty of not working out and taking care of themselves. At the same time, laziness takes the upper hand. One of the easiest ways to get away with this is “It is so difficult to get a spot in the gym when I am free!”

Then there are some other folks who just can’t control their cravings for sweets, frantically exclaiming, “I am so stressed out, hence I’m gorging on these desserts!” Such a convenient way to take advantage of the fact that “STRESSED” is “DESSERTS” spelled backwards!!!

The glib talker woos the sweetheart

What could be worse than forgetting to buy a present for your better half who expects a gift on her anniversary? The husband offers his charming excuse: “Every day with you feels special, so I don’t pay much attention to our anniversary!”

Excuses continue…

Excuses have become far more sophisticated these days. Instead of blaming the family pet, we now sprinkle in trendy tech jargon to give our excuses a modern, polished touch. After all, doesn’t “My Wi-Fi dropped” sound so much better than “My dog ate it”?

The sad truth is that we’ve become artists in the craft of justification, always trying to find logic in what we’ve missed or failed to do. One excuse leads to another, and the cycle keeps spinning. Without a shred of doubt, it’s an unhealthy habit, one that can quietly chip away at our emotional well-being. Over time, it forms a pattern where we never truly learn to take responsibility for our own mistakes.

So next time, can we pause for a moment before justifying our actions and simply own up instead? It may sound difficult, but let’s give it a try. After all, honesty might just be the freshest trend yet.