Top Ten Excuses
āI lost track of the time.ā
We say this when we didnāt do what we were asked to in the time allotted, or we were late to meet with someone.
Truth:
āI found what I was doing far more important/enjoyable than the thought of meeting with you (or doing whatever you wanted me to do). I donāt lose track of time when Iām waiting to board an airplane. I donāt lose track of time when itās time to get off work. I just didnāt care about you enough to KEEP TRACK of the time.ā
āI didnāt understand that thatās what you meant.ā
We say this when we have done a much lesser job than we were requested to do.
Truth:
āWhat you asked me to do required a lot of work on my part. But you used a few words that could be interpreted in more than one way. I chose the interpretation that would mean LESS work for me. Come to think of it, I have never ONE time misinterpreted what you said in a way where I did MORE work than you asked for.ā
āI thought you said . . .ā
We say this when we made a mistake in executing a request or requirementāa variation on #9 above. We were asked, for example, to go to the hardware store and get six 2x4s, but we came back with four 2x6s, which isnāt at all the same.
Truth:
āI wasnāt paying attention. It wasnāt all that important to me, so I didnāt write it down, and I didnāt repeat your request back to you. I just nodded and went through the motions of fulfilling your request. If I had really cared about you, I would have gotten it right. When you speak, I tend to think about me, not you. If you had said, for example, āTake one hundred dollars out of my wallet and treat yourself to a night out this weekend,ā I would not have misinterpreted that. Not a chance.ā
āSomething came up.ā
We say this when weāve made a commitment to do something or be somewhere, but then we change our mind.
Truth:
āI just decided that I didnāt want to do what you asked me to do, and I didnāt want to appear to be uncaring or irresponsible. So rather than tell the truth, I blamed my failure on some vague THING that appeared out of nowhere.ā
āI was so busy.ā
We say this when someone asks us if weāve accomplished some task we committed to do.
Truth:
āI wasnāt all that enthusiastic about doing what you asked, so I put a long line of other tasksāincluding some recreationāahead of what you wanted.ā
āThe traffic was bad.ā
Truth:
āIāve made this particular commute hundreds of time, and I know that the traffic is often bad. But the fastest I ever made the tripāin the middle of the night with no cars on the roadāwas XX minutes, so I routinely leave the house XX minutes before Iām supposed to be here. Funny how Iām never on time, and I donāt really care to change my habits so that Iām responsible instead of making lame excuses.ā
āI didnāt know you meant today.ā
Truth:
āI really could have picked up from your voice that you wanted that done today, but I just ignored it. I didnāt want to do it today, so I didnāt specifically ASK you about your priorities.ā
āI didnāt have time.ā
Truth:
See #6 above. In addition, āI had plenty of time for everything else. I daydreamed for a while, surfed the Internet, watched a movie, and gossiped with my sister and one of my co-workers. I just did whatever I wanted before I even thought about what you wanted.ā
āI didnāt mean to . . .ā
We say this when weāve made a mistake or weāve been inconsiderate.
Truth:
āI didnāt consciously intend to be irresponsible or inconsiderate, but I didnāt intend NOT to either. I just wasnāt being thoughtful, but I donāt want to look thoughtless, so I hope that my saying āI didnāt mean toā will make me look better, and then you wonāt be angry with me.ā
āI forgot.ā
Truth:
āYeah, I kind of forgot, but it would be far more accurate to say that I put what you wanted out of my mind. If it had been truly important to me, I would not have forgotten. I donāt forget my birthday. I donāt forget to pick up my paycheck. I donāt forget the day my vacation starts. But what you asked me to do just didnāt matter that much to me.ā
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