Excuses, excuses

CareerBuilder.com recently conducted an "Out of the Office" survey that (amongst other things) surveyed the excuses people give when they played hooky from work. As their site says:

The 2004 CCH Unscheduled Absence Survey, conducted for CCH by Harris Interactive confirmed this trend. CCH found most employees who fail to show up for work, however, aren't physically ill, according to the survey. In fact, only 38 percent of unscheduled absences are due to personal illness, while 62 percent are for other reasons, including family issues (23 percent), personal needs (18 percent), stress (11 percent) and entitlement mentality (10 percent).

Here are some of the more unusual excuses given:

# I was sprayed by a skunk.

# I tripped over my dog and was knocked unconscious.

# My bus broke down and was held up by robbers.

# I was arrested as a result of mistaken identity.

# I forgot to come back to work after lunch.

# I couldn't find my shoes.

# I hurt myself bowling.

# I was spit on by a venomous snake.

# I totaled my wife's jeep in a collision with a cow.

# A hitman was looking for me.

# My curlers burned my hair and I had to go to the hairdresser.

# I eloped.

# My brain went to sleep and I couldn't wake it up.

# My cat unplugged my alarm clock.

# I had to be there for my husband's grand jury trial.

# I had to ship my grandmother's bones to India (note: she passed away 20 years before).

# I forgot what day of the week it was.

# Someone slipped drugs in my drink last night.

# A tree fell on my car.

# My monkey died.