Excuses to Skip Work

Yawn…I stretch, and I push the hair out of my eyes… I open my eyes and look at the time, its 7:45am. I feel like I can sleep some more… a fantasy (or a dream) starts playing around in my head. The sky is blue and clear; the park has never been more inviting. It’s a glorious spring day and all I want to do is pack a picnic hamper, take my books and dog to the park and spend the whole day eating, reading and playing with my dog. Maybe later I can catch the latest chick flick and end the day with a trip to the salon for a Mani and pedi.

8:00am and the alarm is going off…it just doesn’t seem to stop. I get up with a start and realize it is 8:00am on Monday and I am already running late! I have to be at work at 9:30am, how am I ever going to manage. The best thing to do would be to pick up the phone, call my boss in the middle of a (fake) coughing fit and tell him I cant make it cause I am sick. But you know your boss isn’t going to buy this lame excuse to skip work. Because it is that…lame!

We have all been in this situation where you just do not want to go to work, but what else can be done? How many excuses to skip work can we come up with, without sounding irresponsible and childish? Here are some excuses that can be used:

• Earn it – the best way to skip work is to earn it. Sounds strange doesn’t it? But it really isn’t. It is the smartest way to get leave. Plan it a week in advance and start coming in early and staying late, so that your boss sees you working, and then you can tell him you want to take a couple of days off, and plan it around a weekend. Tell your boss you need this time to go visit your folks or friends.
• Meeting clients – if you are the sort who is into advertising, sales, marketing or client servicing, this is a great excuse. But this takes some planning, make a lunch appointment with a client and then take the rest of the day off.
• Doctor’s appointment – this is a great way to take a day or half a day off. Say you have a doctor’s appointment scheduled and take the rest of the day off. This is better if its scheduled around the weekend, you get a longer ‘rest’ period.
• Cramps – this is one excuse no one is going to question too much, cause men are going to be too embarrassed to talk about it and women will empathize. But remember men cannot use this one, its never going to be believed, unless you have had a gender change!
• Working from home – if your job is the sort that can be done from home, then why not do that and tell your boss you need to do some urgent work and it would be better if you could work from home. Make sure you actually do some work while you are relaxing at home; else your boss is never going to believe you again.
• Death in the family – do not use this excuse too often, cause if you say your grandfather passed away and someone from work finds out he has been dead for 10 years, it isn’t going to look good for you.
• Sleepy – these are excuses some people use, this was one I was tempted to use too, but common sense prevailed. Being sleepy is not an excuse to come to work, but if your boss buys it, good for you, enjoy your day off.
• Car is stuck – sounds strange but this is an excuse that has been used and is stupid. Saying that your car is stuck in the garage and you cannot get it out is lame, and unless your boss has been in the same situation he isn’t going to believe it.
• Personal emergency – this is an excuse that has a 50% success rate, which means half the time it may work and the other half it may not. This is because this is a vague excuse and doesn’t hold good most of the time.

Not going to work and staying at home all day sounds really good, but what happens when you get caught by someone from work? How are you going to do the explaining? Think before you come up with excuses to skip work.