Everyone has turned up to school really late at least once or twice. Everyone has given a dreadful excuse to avoid detention. But some lies really take the cake.
Reddit user AdmiralEthan posed this question to teachers:
“What was the best lateness excuse you've ever heard?"
Here are some of the very best, which you might just recognize from your own school days.
1. At least this student was honest…
"I'm sorry I was late. I was running late."
2. This incredible excuse.
"I once signed my daughter in late to elementary school, and the parent before me had put "UFO Sighting" in the "reason for tardiness" box."
3. A student went to the wrong school.
"Not me, but a teacher I knew. Had a high school freshman that was late because he forgot he had high school and went to his middle school. Kid actually sat in a class before realizing he was at the wrong school. He had the visitor's pass his middle school gave him as proof. Teacher kept the middle school visitors pass as proof of that lateness story."-WeebHutJr
4. This classroom had their friend's back.
"Guy in my brother's class lived directly across from the high school. It took less than one minute to get to school. He overslept one day and dashed into homeroom. The teacher asked why he was late. Before he could answer, the class starts chanting "His bus was late!". Teacher said "Oh, OK"."
5. Get this student a planner!
"He said that he thought it was the weekend. It was Tuesday."
6. One pupil fell into a sewer…
"I feel in the sewer. It was true kid was playing a phone game completely oblivious to the construction sign and feel down a manhole. He caught himself at the shoulders and was not harmed."
7. This person's Dad ate their homework.
"I used this one as a kid... "My dad ate my homework." In 7th grade for French class, I had to make a homemade French dish. I chose croissants as I was 12 and anything else would have been way too complicated. I made them with my mom after dinner and sometime after I went to bed, my dad ate like 6 of them, which meant I didn't have enough for the class. So on the way to school, I had to stop at Dunkin Donuts and replace the ones my dad ate."
8. This student must be an aspiring farmer.
"Not a teacher but once my classmate wrote "my pigeon laid an egg" as an excuse on his latecoming slip."
9. An unfortunate accident happened.
"Locked in their own house was a good one."
10. This late student barely gave an excuse.
"Sorry I was late, it's just kind of the way I am. It will happen again"
Hey man, I get it.
11. Lastly, this absolute hero.
"Not a teacher. Someone is my first business law class was late because she had to give someone CPR until the ambulance arrived."
A version of this article originally appeared on Press Association.