'I don't feel like working today': 20+ hilariously lame reasons why people called in sick to work

Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor

Jul 16, 2024 4:00 PM EDT

Sometimes, no excuse is better than a lame excuse. Everyone deserves the right to take a break with no questions asked. Unfortunately for the workers of the world, that can be very hard to do when you have a demanding and nosey manager.

These employees made the mistake of trying to fabricate valid reasons and coming up short. It's definitely better to say nothing at all if the only "reason" you can come up with is the grown-up version of your dog eating your homework. Luckily, those ridiculous excuses are entertaining to read about, from the employee who called to say they were coming down with something while club music was playing loudly in the background to the worker who claimed they were snowed in and couldn't drive to work despite living only a block away from the office.

Keep scrolling below for the full collection of weak excuses to call in sick. Don't try these at your jobs, folks. For more, check out this post about an employee who got "quiet fired" just before her wedding.