We have all heard — and quite possibly used ourselves — the “my dog ate my homework” excuse during elementary school. Or middle school, if you were dumb enough to think it would work that late in your schooling career. As college students, we tend to employ our own ridiculous excuses for forgetting our homework or not wanting to do something. Let’s go through some of the excuse repertoire.
The classic “I’m too busy” excuse comes to mind first. Your friend asks you to do something and you need a way out? Whip out the “I’m too busy” card. Who can give you a hard time for having a lot to do? You’re at college to get an education, so you have a perfectly legitimate excuse for having a lot of school work to do …right? Let’s think about it for a moment. When a friend asks you to help out, you have to assume that your friend has a large number of things on his or her plate, too. Before you pull the age-old excuse on your pal, consider the situation. Even if you have a metaphorical double-serving of meatloaf on your plate, your friend might have an entire Thanksgiving dinner sitting on their platter. Your friend may simply have more responsibilities than you at the moment. If your pal needs a hand, consider making a concerted effort to help him or her. When you’re eagerly watching that late-night episode of “Family Feud” on TV to see Steve Harvey deal with the nincompoops on either side of him, ask yourself if you really are “too busy.”
Going to class can drain your energy week after week. The “I’m sick” excuse works pretty well for this situation. The most adept liars will fake a cough or sniffle during the class period that they return, you sly devils, you. But unless your professor is keeping close tabs on your participation for a grade, why even bother making up an excuse? Simply don’t show up; it’s your money — not theirs. The class will go on without you, unless you’re in a three-person class and the other two people’s mouths are on vacation. Then you might have an issue. But otherwise, why make an excuse for yourself when you don’t need to? And if you really are concerned about the whole participation grade thing, then think of it as getting the grade you deserve. I’m not trying to preach — I take a personal day here and there, but I think professors are sick of hearing that you’re “sick.”
Wrapping up the list of common excuses is the most honest but hardest to justify: “I’m too lazy.” Someone who says he is too lazy is probably the same person that lounges around in his room all day. Telling someone you’re too lazy is equivalent to telling him or her you don’t care. Laziness is entirely your choice. It is a way of saying that you purposefully choose not to use your time effectively. We all need breaks here and there, but turning down someone’s request for help due to a personal lack of initiative does not reflect well on your character. And honestly, the “I’m sick” and “I’m too busy” excuses are often blanketed ways of saying “I’m too lazy.” Owning up to your laziness is an important first step, but doing something about it requires some initiative.
Not all excuses are terrible. Sometimes, they are perfectly legitimate. Some people who claim to be too busy are earnestly up to their ears in assignments and extracurricular engagements. A lot of people who don’t show up to class due to illness are, in fact, sick. But I would think that’s obvious. The connotations of the word “excuse,” however, shed some light on how we make and use excuses. An excuse is simply an explanation for doing something wrong or not doing something at all. When I hear the word “excuse,” I think of someone saying something to cover his or her rear end. The word has such negative connotations in our day and age.
Excuses don’t have to be negative. They are perceived so negatively because we use them to avoid commitments we could take on and to get out of classes we are healthy enough to attend. If you have an excuse, make it because it’s legitimate — not because you’re lazy. There’s no excuse for making empty excuses.
