The Reason I was Late is…..
AnnaMarie Petrarca Gire
There are thousands of reasons why people show up late for work. www.careerbuilder.com has compiled their list of the most popular excuses — and the most outrageous – for why people are late to work. Among the most popular were: Getting the kids to school or daycare (8 percent); bad weather (11 percent) and lack of sleep (18 percent).
But the No. 1 most popular reason is …….
Traffic! Thirty-one percent of the workers surveyed said they were most often late to work because
of traffic. Employees apparently blamed everyone from their roommate to the governor, the cat, the TV and a fox. Here’s the top 10 list of the most outrageous excuses:
1. Employee’s cat had the hiccups.
2. Employee thought she had won the lottery (she didn’t).
3. Employee got distracted watching the “Today Show.”
4. Employee’s angry roommate cut the cord to his phone charger, so it didn’t charge and his alarm
didn’t go off.
5. Employee believed his commute time should count toward his work hours.
6. Employee claimed a fox stole her car keys.
7. Employee’s leg was trapped between the subway car and the platform (turned out to be true).
8. Employee said he wasn’t late because he had no intention of getting to work before 9:00 a.m. (his start time was 8:00 a.m.)
9. Employee was late because of a job interview with another firm.
10. Employee had to take a personal call from the state governor (turned out to be true).
So maybe using the fox stole my keys is off the table, you’ll have to come up with something more original. Being late puts me off balance and can affect my work, so my goal for this year is to be 15 minutes early, unless my bird throws my keys in the trash and I have to spend 15 minutes figuring out where they are. (True story)
If you are guilty of being late try the following to stop that bad habit.
1. Acknowledge your problem, you can’t fix what you think doesn’t exist.
2. Be conscious of the time, don’t think you can clean that car until 6, shower dress and be on time for dinner at 6:30
3. Be realistic about how long it takes to get everything , including yourself , ready to leave, re-examine how long your daily tasks really take.
4. Keep track of your activities for a few days to see where time is wasted.
5, It’s not a bad thing to be 15 minutes early. Bring something to read or work on and use that time wisely instead of being rushed and wasting someone else’s time.
Find ways that work for you , Check traffic weather, get enough sleep, don’t use the snooze alarm. Be on time, you’ll make someone happy, especially yourself.
But if all else fails, leave now— just in case!
