"My Dog Ate My Homework"

“My Dog Ate My Homework”
         I was seating in my math class when my teacher asked for our homework. As usual I handed mine over but the kid next to me didn’t. When the teacher asked for his homework, he casually said “My dog ate my homework.” I shook my head in disbelief. Why, that was the dumbest excuse I had ever heard. Certainly no teacher would accept that. My teacher didn’t.
         It’s amazing how many people use excuses in their daily life. I use them and I’m absolutely certain my parents do also. Isn’t that a factor of life? Have you ever heard the phrase “I did it because I love you?” oh yeah, that’s a colossal excuse. When parents can’t find a proper excuse after doing something their children disapprove of like taking their stuff away or even eating their candy, they sometimes say that. Oh let’s not forget about the guys. Ever heard that phrase after they got caught cheating?
         People normally use excuses as a form of escape or fear of getting in trouble or they just do it because they enjoy it. Sometimes it can’t be helped. And although excuses are like lying, not many can stop.
         Okay, this is for the ladies. No offense guys. Okay, imagine you, a single lady, are walking down a street on your way to the grocery store. You are suddenly stopped by this guy. He is not stopping you for your money nor does he want to kill you. Instead he starts to flirt with you and tries to get you to go out with him. What would you do when you have no interest in the guy? Ok, I have the answer for you. You lie to him. You think of an excuse just to get rid of him. You can’t tell him that you have to go to the store. No, that’s the dumbest thing you could do. No, you tell him that you have a boyfriend, one that would kill him if he ever touched you, or you tell him that you are engaged to be married. If that doesn’t work, you tell him that you have some kind of infectious disease, make it up or that you are pregnant. That will have him running.
         So you made an excuse, big deal. You had in order to ditch the guy. You wanted to escape and that’s one of the many reasons why people use excuses. The situations are never the same. A person could be bothered by a sales clerk or a stranger who’s asking too many personal questions. These are just a few examples people’s use of excuses to get out of tough situations. I’ve done it too and I’ve never thought I was doing something really wrong.
         This happened not too long ago. It was a Saturday and I had planned to stay at home. There was this really cool book I had just got and I wanted peace and quiet to read it. But that day my mom was planning to drive to Fort Lauderdale. I didn’t want to go and didn’t exactly need to see my aunt. People may think I’m cold hearted but I had a book waiting and for goodness sake, my aunt had just been over last week. I didn’t have to see her this week too. So I couldn’t just tell my mother that I didn’t want to go, she’d just make me so I was left with a difficult choice. I could either go take a shower and get dressed for the trip or I could think of a very convincing excuse to let me stay. I chose the latter of course. So I whacked my brain for a good excuse. I realized I could say that I wasn’t feeling well but it had to be specific. So I asked my mother for Advil claiming that I had a headache. She gave me the Advil and said I didn’t have to go. I was so happy that it wasn’t until my mother and siblings left that I regretted what I did. But it was worth it because when my siblings, I had never seen such sorry souls.
         I’m sure I’m not the only one to ever use such an excuse. It may have not been the same excuse but I’m sure it was for the same reason.
         There are some people who just love excuses. Like “my dog ate my homework” when they never even did it or “my car broke down” when they’re late for school or work. Employees would say that “I got a stomach virus”, “my ex husband stole my car”, or even “my neighbor got sick”. Oh here’s the dumbest one I’ve heard in a long time for being late for work: “I had to put on my makeup” people who use these types of excuses are just doing it because they either can’t help it or that they just love to do it. They could just really say why they were late for school or work. But who likes getting into trouble?
          I personally try to avoid this form of excuse but what would you do if you were told don’t go downstairs in the middle of the night for food and you found yourself hungry and unable to sleep? You know that if you were caught that your mother would be really pissed and that’s the last thing you do. So what do you do? You fabricate a story duh? If you know you’re going to get caught might as well come up with an excuse. And that’s exactly what my little sister and I did one night.
         I wasn’t really the one hungry but I was the one who came up with the devious excuse. It was two in the morning and my sister kept pestering me complaining she couldn’t sleep because she was hungry. She didn’t want to go down stairs alone and threatened to keep me awake till I consented. I had to agree but I wasn’t about to get in trouble should we get caught. So I had my sister wear the baggiest pants we could find in our closet. Baggy pants with deep pockets and long old shirts that reached the pockets. When we did, I explained my plan and the role she would play. So we went into the kitchen and stuffed the easiest snacks we could find. Cookies, apple, grapes. . . We even managed a cold sandwich. The trick was to not have our pockets looking normal and the long shirts helped hide that. But before we left the kitchen, we made sure we each had a glass of water. My mom did catch us and she never noticed our filled pockets. As planned, I told her that “Lilly woke up with a dry throat and wanted water and since it’s so scary downstairs, she woke me up to go with her.” My mother bought and to this day I have regretted that day. It was wrong of me to do so and I did not show a proper example to my sister.
         That’s what people don’t really realize. When they use excuses all the time, eventually, their children adopt the habit and the world will just keep using them. We’re not being honest when we use those excuses. However, from an article read over the internet, the author said that a phony excuse once in a while can help psychological and emotional. People have their reasons for using excuses whether to escape someone or something or if it makes them happy but over use can corrupt a human being and people need to understand that. “My dog ate my homework” excuse should come with a punishment. Students need to start telling the truth even if they get in trouble. It’s just teaching us a lesson and we may never forget our homework again but if we use those excuses, when are we ever going to be honest about anything?