You hear about people making crazy excuses for things (like “the dog ate my homework”) but here are a few bona fide reasons I’ve been late to work and getting home from work.
1) On my first day at work on my current job, a wild boar escaped from a vehicle transporting it on the interstate. Amid the mass of stopped cars, the big, hairy, ugly pig ran wildly right in front of my car – while several men tried to capture it. They all looked scared to death, especially when the boar switched directions and charged their way. I felt ridiculous having to tell my new boss, “I’m sorry for being late, but there was a 500-lb. wild boar in the road causing a big traffic jam…” Fortunately, an article with details about the event on the front page of the newspaper the next day confirmed my wild story.
2) I’d backed the car out and gotten out to close the garage door to go to the first day of a week-long training class at work when I discovered it wouldn’t close all the way. So, although two ladders were within easy distance, I grabbed a bucket (also nearby), stood on it, reached up to fix the top of the door, slipped off and fell to the concrete floor. The garage door slammed down as I screamed in pain, but since no one was going to come help me, I finally stood upright and limped to work — late. (Found out two weeks later it was badly broken – even though I went to the emergency room that night after work and got x-rays — and the doctor told me it wasn’t broken…)
3) When I worked downtown and had to cross the two mile-long bridge across the river, several car wrecks occurred one rainy morning involving an incredible total of 37 cars. Five cars crashed into each other right next to me in the passing lane (with that horrible crunching sound), and car parts from their vehicles flew through the air and bounced off my car’s windshield. Just ahead, 15 cars had crashed in a single wreck, and the rest of the wrecks were behind me. (It was definitely the worse day ever on the bridge; a new one was built since then.) Everyone got out and walked around, as the bridge swayed beneath us, until traffic finally began moving again at 10 a.m.
4) One time, word got out that traffic was tied up both routes home from work. I chose the way I thought would be fastest and sat in my roasting car (it was 99 degrees that day) at a near stand-still, inching along on the interstate for five hours and reading a week’s supply of newspapers that, fortunately, were in the back seat. I unbuttoned my blouse to my waist, hiked up my skirt (who cared what the truck drivers thought?!) and toughed it out –eventually making it 13 miles home after 9 p.m.
The true-life incidents above are one of the main reasons I always keep an ample supply of reading material in my car.
What situations have you encountered while commuting to and from work?
*** Other work-related posts:
Top 10 Reasons to Love Teleworking
Playing with Dolls at Work: A Wacky Workplace Morale Booster
Returning to Work after Vacation to an Empty Mailbox
Please Don’t Hug or Kiss Me at Work: Sexual Harassment
My hubs once had a truck carrying chickens tip-over which resulted in hundreds of chickens running all over the highway. State troopers were chasing the chickens for hours and caused such a back up! It was crazy having to tell his boss why he was late because well now we know why the chicken crosses the road. 😉
Jessi Fearon (@TheBudgetMama) recently posted…2014 Goals – Update #7
Great story!
I feel like I have a zillion of these but can’t think of a single one. Ain’t that alway the way? Love the wild boar though. Fab.
The Accidental Mama
http://theaccidentalmama.com
The Accidental Mama recently posted…The Final Countdown: A Wedding Update
During a commute, I witnessed a standoff with police. It was terrifying but kind of exciting too.
Yikes! That sounds exciting!
Love the wild boar story! That sounds like something that would happen to me..
Thanks for commenting. Guess we have the same kind of “luck!”
These are some pretty hiliarious reasons for being late, and so unbelievable that they all happened to you. The first one is pretty funny, and imagine the odds for your first day. You must live in a unique place! Thanks for sharing this, it was a great and entertaining read.
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Thanks for writing. This is definitely a unique place – ya can’t get anywhere without crossing several bridges, so if something happens on one, you’re just stuck…
Wow. How awful! I thought things like that only happened to me.
Guess we’re both just lucky, huh?!
Very entertaining post! I’m not so much late for work but on the odd occasion I’m off sick my genuine reasons often seem implausible like “food poisoning” (aka hangover) after that Sunday night BBQ etc 😉 thanks for sharing.
Glasgowdragonfly recently posted…On being nice (and cynical) these days
I’m thinking in addition to reading materials, I would make sure I had food and drinks stashed in my car, too. And maybe something to pee in.
that cynking feeling recently posted…Surgery by the numbers
Actually, that night I did have a little bit of left-over food and drink in the car, but had to ration the liquid because of the inevitable problem… That paper cup was looking mighty tempting after a few hours…
That is some bad luck, especially the wild boar. I haven’t owned a car in a while. My lateness has all been pretty standard and entirely the fault of public transportation: train delays, buses log-jammed, rush hour traffic. I’ll remember your post whenever I encounter my little inconveniences, though.
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My dad would be late for work or called home from work because the cows got out. Once I was called home cause one of the cows we had got to butcher for meat, had a baby.
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