"The Dog Deleted My Homework"
Now that I am teaching, I have come across several odd excuses people gave for missing their examinations or not showing up on time:
- "Yesterday was Monday??? You're kidding!!!" (She accidentally set her clock back a day when setting it back an hour for Daylight-Saving Time.) --- Wins the Strangest Award!
- "I forgot."
- "I had to go visit my cousin in Chicago."
- "The police had the roads blocked off." (This one was true. What police thought was a sniper turned out to be a law student shooting at his tort-law textbook in the parking lot of his apartment building. But they blocked off all traffic on the two highways that go from the center of town to the college - they pass on opposite sides of the apartment complex. I wouldn't have been there either, except that I knew another way to get there using back roads.)
- "My boss scheduled me to attend a sales convention in Chicago." (She had a note signed by the boss, so I granted taking the test with another section on a different date.)
- "I got a speeding ticket trying to get here on time for the test."
- "My computer account was suspended for playing games online." (He showed up, but couldn't log in to open the test.)
- "My 4WD got stuck in mud in my driveway." (An hour late for a 3-hour test, and I lose the computer room at the end of the three hours.)
- "I was too busy reporting my car stolen." (Police towed it for illegal parking.)
- "I'm pregnant, and my due date is the date of the test, so I might not be there." (Fortunately, she attended. The birth was two days later.)
- The 12:30 bus didn't come. (Granted. That bus was in a traffic accident.)
