'She said "I forgot that I worked here"': Employees reveal the most unusual excuses they've ever heard from someone calling off work

Author image for Lana DeGaetano
Lana DeGaetano • "Show me to me please."
Aug 18, 2025 1:00 PM EDT

Emergencies happen, and sometimes, you have to miss work—but sometimes, you make up the weirdest excuse to get out of work, which is fine, too. Everybody is so creative, so we've gathered the funniest and most unusual excuses those in the workforce have heard others use or have used themselves to get out of work.

We've since graduated from "the dog ate my homework" to a more serious and increasingly more intelligent way of getting out of our responsibilities. Whether these excuses are real or fake depends on which side of the equation you're on—the employer or the employee—and whether or not you simply have bad luck or you're trying to make it seem like you do. I've used every excuse in the book during my school years; My cat spilled water on my laptop, I (almost) broke my ankle—the possibilities are endless. But have you ever told an employer that you were trapped in your house because a giant moose decided to park right in front of your front door? Probably not.

Sometimes, a plane really does land on the expressway, and you can't get through traffic. Or, you've come down with a bad case of "apathy" that is highly contagious. Scroll below to laugh at the absurdity of these excuses!

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