Late for work excuses

[Brian]

As Nurses, we've all probably been late a time or two. 30 feet of snow, car trouble, sick children, no babysitter ... the list goes on. But, potholes in the parking lot of the hospital? I can hear the Nurse supervisor now. You were late because of what??? So, what's your best excuse for being late for work?

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[turnforthenurse, MSN, NP]

The Starbucks drive-thru line was too long.

[toomuchbaloney]

I'm gonna be late because that moose won't move and I cannot get out my door.

I'm gonna be late because my engine is frozen solid (it's -40 F).

I'm gonna be late because the wildfire crossed the road between me and the office.

[RunninOnCoffee]

Several years ago before I graduated nursing school the unit secretary replacing me called in because she was "already too drunk to come into work." I ended up staying until I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. Still can't believe that 1. She actually admitted that and 2. She still somehow had a job the following weekend.

[lindseylpn]

I once worked with a woman who was late all the time and she had several excuses she rotated. One of her most used excuses was that her pipes had burst, year round..every few weeks her pipes would burst.

I once worked with a girl who called in late because, she thought she saw a UFO and was afraid to leave her house. She was dead serious and not a late person.

[Hoosier_RN, MSN]

lovetosleep said:

I used to live in a terrible neighborhood. I got stuck in my house because there was a dead body along with the coroner van and tons of police blocking my driveway. My boss didn't believe me when and told me to stop making excuses. It was on the news later and they ended up apologizing to me later.

A while back, neighbor's house burned down. My cul de sac was blocked by fire trucks and other ancillary vehicles. No one hurt but they wouldn't let me off of our road. Thank goodness it made the news as my boss was pretty snarky about it ad well

[SmilingBluEyes]

I may be one of the rare ones who does not thinking showing up late for work is funny.

It's rude and inconsiderate if done regularly. And making up BS stories to justify it, unprofessional.

[sailornurse]

We had an RN that would often call in sick on Friday or Saturday nights. We suspected she was out of town due to comments about

being in Vegas, Phoenix recently. One supervisor called her bluff one weekend when she called in with car won't start. Told her she was Sending taxi to her house to pick her up or one of evening shift (2 of us offered to go pick her up). She ended up confessing that she was not at her house, was out of town, far away. They fired her shortly after due to the & other issues chronically late.

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[toomuchbaloney]

SmilingBluEyes said:

I may be one of the rare ones who does not thinking showing up late for work is funny.

It's rude and inconsiderate if done regularly. And making up BS stories to justify it, unprofessional.

Mine were real examples, not made up.

A coworker last year was late because there was a bear on her porch and she couldn't get out of the house.

[ixchel]

lindseylpn said:

I once worked with a woman who was late all the time and she had several excuses she rotated. One of her most used excuses was that her pipes had burst, year round..every few weeks her pipes would burst.

I once worked with a girl who called in late because, she thought she saw a UFO and was afraid to leave her house. She was dead serious and not a late person.

Perhaps pipes bursting was her polite was of saying she had explosive diarrhea.

[Davey Do]

Back in the mid 80's, a Nurse told me about another Nurse who called and said she was going to be late for work because she had to dig out an impaction. From herself.

I seem to remember that the Nurse was calling from her bathroom. And this was in the days before cellphones...

[nutella, MSN, RN]

I took a call out from a coworker who said "my toilet does not stop to overflow" - apparently some kind of plumbing problem.

[RosesrReder, BSN, MSN, RN]

I live in Arizona and one evening I had to call in late because there was a huge rattle snake at the foot of my car door. I have a huge phobia for snakes and couldn't get myself to get in through the other door. I was literally frozen and skin crawling. I had to wait for animal control to arrive and remove it.