10+ ridiculous reasons why employees took their sick days: 'I got shampoo in my eyes!'

Author image for Ben Weiss
Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Jul 28, 2025 8:00 AM EDT

Every employee needs to take a day for themselves at some point, but some folks are better at coming up with excuses than others. It's almost like an inherited gene that some individuals are born with, while others simply cannot compete. Back in middle school, some students would always be able to get away with their personal variation of "my dog ate my homework," and they successfully managed to get out of trouble every single time. However, if I ever tried that, being the hopeless rule follower that I always was and still am, it would be way too obvious that I was lying. 

That's why I have some sympathy for a few of these employees, who were so overworked and exhausted that they needed to take a day off. However, when they tried to explain their reasons for taking sick days, it always came across as if they were grasping at straws. I wish I could offer tips and tricks for how to deliver an effective white lie, but like I said, I just wasn't born with that trait. Keep scrolling below for these amusing stories!

Add as a preferred
source on Google
Advertisement
  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 10534582528
    via Kelly Sikkema

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • One takeaway I got from these anecdotes was that sometimes, the best course of action is to not give any reason at all. After all, these employees were all entitled to their sick days, given the contracts they signed. If you need to call in sick, just say so and don't provide any more information, especially if you worry that whatever details you do provide could be used against you down the road!

  • 02
    medicwitha45. Guy got into my lunch, without asking, and ended going to the hospital because his mouth was on fire and his stomach hurt. HR then tried to get on my about poisoning my food or pranking people. It
    via [deleted]
  • 03
    wasn't a prank, it was homemade Thai basil with rat peppers and some smoked Naga jolokias. I'm a pepperhead - I grow an assortment of super hots, and collect crazy sauces. He ended up getting canned for trying to make it a workers comp claim.
    via [deleted]
  • 04
    samtresler. A guy I hired by the day once told me at his old job he was told he could not be late again. So, or course he was running late. He claims to have looked his boss in the eye and said,
    via [deleted]
  • 05
    "Have you ever taken a Iso bad that you had to get back in the shower?" Apparently, it worked and he wasn't fired that day.
    via [deleted]
  • 06
    slophiewal. I used to work with a woman probably aged about 55 and she was notoriously very ditzy and daft, and just a bit of a laughing stock. Anyway we started at about 9am and she never turned up. She
    via [deleted]
  • 07
    rang at about 11am to say she was day dreaming and just aimlessly following the car infront of her and had driven like 100 miles away LMAO
    via [deleted]
  • 08
    Familiar Physics_213. I have a good one. My employees were remote long before WFH was cool. My best girl calls and says she needs to log off for a while. Ok? ""Yeah, there's an alligator in my pool enclosure, and I can't concentrate. I'm waiting
    via [deleted]
  • 09
    on Fish and Wildlife to get here to remove it." And then she emailed me a picture. Yeah girl, take all the time you need!
    via [deleted]
  • 10
    LOLacy435 Once had a guy call in sick. Two hours later he called in to say his basement had flooded, forgetting that he had already called in. In reality he was just really drC
    via [deleted]
  • 11
    Cheezburger Image 10534583040
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 12
    imbustyqueen ⚫ 2 We had a "sick phone" at my office, basically a mobile/cell phone number you'd call. if noone answered you leave a voicemail.
    via [deleted]
  • 13
    So this voicemail gets left at about 1:30am on a saturday morning. Shift starts by 7am on saturdays. Club music PUMPING in background
    via [deleted]
  • 14
    YELLING INTO PHONE: Yeah ahh hey.. I won't be in tommorow, i'm not feeling too good, i think i'm coming down with a headache or something, been sick all night, i'll see you all on monday!!!
    via [deleted]
  • 15
    ZoeWalker83 One time a colleague called in to say they couldn't come to work because apparently, they had been selected for an impromptu space mission orientation as a potential candidate for Mars colonization - said it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and couldn't
    via [deleted]
  • 16
    be missed. We all had a good chuckle, imagining him floating out there. Turned out he was just at a sci-fi convention and wanted to keep the theme going. He brought back some epic cosplay photos, so all was forgiven!
    via [deleted]
  • 17
    ssclamato I once took a personal day because of my Pug. She's tiny, and fat, and snore-y, and it was winter and cold out, and my alarm went off, so she snuggled up to my face and neck, and just drifted off to sleep, snoring into my neck. I said " in. this" and called
    via [deleted]
  • 18
    I-Really-H-Fish She cleaned too much at home and felt that she shouldn't be expected to clean at work as well. Except she worked as a cleaner.
    via [deleted]
  • 19
    2LiveBoo My husband's worker called in because he was trapped inside the office of a storage unit business.
    via [deleted]
  • 20
    The owners didn't realise the dude was still there and locked up for the night. We got video documentation and everything. It was hilarious. Dude had to sleep on the office couch.
    via [deleted]
  • 21
    Fafurion. Travelling to Cancun for a family emergency.
    via [deleted]
  • 22
    JennyBJammin. My own most ridiculous reason was actually legit, but over a decade later I am still embarrassed lol. I had to call out because I got shampoo in my eyes,
    via [deleted]
  • 23
    and the burning was so bad I couldn't open my eyes for longer than a second or two. I had to wear my gel eye mask pretty much the entire day. I was in my late 30s.
    via [deleted]
  • 24
    dylandbloom · They said their car was snowed in and wouldn't start. They lived a block away.
    via [deleted]
  • 25
    redpillallthewayy. Someone said they were so sunburnt they couldn't bend down to put underwear on
    via [deleted]

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

workplace-stories work stories toxic-workplace job sick day work employees overworked-employees sick company funny toxic-work-environment
Scroll Down For The Next Article