Making excuses is one of many things every person in the entire world is guilty of. Whether that excuse is making up a fake grandparent to get out of a test or calling in “sick” to get out of work or school, everyone has made up an excuse at one point or another. For example, just now, my excuse for not writing this article was that I had to see if the main character would finally date the guy in the show I’m binging.

This cycle of excuses is one of many things that unite people around the world. For example, according to Reader’s Digest, one funny (yet somehow real) excuse someone has said to get out of going to work was that their “llama couldn’t stop barfing”. Without a doubt, this was probably the one excuse their employer will never forget both because of how ridiculous and comical it is. 

At Arcadia High School (AHS), every single student has thought the same thought as junior Sophia Lin. They stated, “One time I told myself I’d start working at 4:00, but when I checked the clock it was 4:03. And I was like, ‘I can’t start on an uneven number!’ So, I decided to start working at 4:15 instead. But when 4:15 came around [I wasn’t really up to do work and] I [thought] that 4:20 was more ‘solid’ than 4:15.” 

I know for a fact that I relate to Lin as I tell myself the exact same excuse, and sometimes, I never end up completing my homework.  

Moreover, I’m sure everyone has gotten into the cycle of being “unproductively productive”. Which is essentially, doing work that is technically productive when you actually have different work to do. For example, junior Edith Ung stated, “An excuse I use to get out of homework is that I have to clean my room before I do my homework.”

Another anecdote that came from junior Renee Tang when she stated, “last week, I told my parents that I was sick and nauseous to get out of school. I even took a little cup of cold medicine thinking, ‘hey, I can’t overdose on one cap of cold medicine, right?’” 

I know for a fact that this is one excuse that I have repeatedly told to get out of tests or quizzes. One time, I used this excuse to get out of turning in a lab because I didn’t finish it and suffice to say, my parents were not too happy about that!

Furthermore, everyone has made excuses at one point or another. It is inevitable that someone will make an excuse to get out of something that they don’t want to do–the key is to either be really funny about it, or gaslight yourself into thinking that you can’t do a task until it is the right time.