It’s a tale as old as time—we’re running late, and we need a good excuse! Whether it’s for work, school, or an appointment with a friend, an excuse can keep us out of trouble. But what are the best ones? Here are the top 10 best excuses for being late:

1. Traffic

Traffic is always a great excuse because it’s usually true. Plus, it’s usually out of our control and therefore difficult to argue with. If you use this excuse, make sure to give as many details as possible – how long you were stuck in traffic and which roads were backed up – to sound more believable.

2. Alarm Clock

This is another classic excuse that people have used since time immemorial. Whether your alarm clock went off late or you hit the snooze button one too many times, this is always a safe bet when looking for an excuse to be late. Just make sure not to use this one too often; otherwise people might start catching on!

3. Lost Track of Time

We’ve all been guilty of getting lost in our favorite activities like playing video games or watching movies and forgetting about our obligations. It’s easy enough to use this as an excuse without sounding like you’re trying too hard to get away with something; just explain how you got involved in something and simply lost track of time!

4. Pet Emergency

This one is especially useful if you own pets; if your pet gets sick or injured suddenly, there’s no way anyone could blame you for being late due to attending to them! Just make sure that the person doesn’t ask too many questions about your pet’s condition; if they do, then maybe try a different excuse instead!

5. Family Emergency

Family emergencies are always serious business and no one would ever fault someone for being late due to attending to them. As with pet emergencies, though, be prepared for questions about the nature of the emergency if asked by whomever you’re trying to explain yourself too.

6. Car Trouble

This one can be tricky because unless you actually have car trouble (or know someone who does), it might not be very believable in some cases! Still, car troubles are always good excuses if they come up naturally; just make sure not to stretch the truth too much when using this one!

7. Misread Calendar

We’ve all done it before—misread our calendars or double-booked ourselves without realizing it until it was almost too late. It happens more often than we’d like to admit so don’t hesitate to use this as an excuse whenever needed!

8. Overslept

This is another classic that everyone has used at some point in their lives; whether from staying up too late or from exhaustion from working long hours (or both!), oversleeping is always a reliable excuse for being late when needed!

9. Bad Weather

Inclement weather can cause delays in travel plans so don’t hesitate to use this as an excuse when needed! Just make sure that your bad weather story lines up with whatever weather conditions occurred on the day in question so that nobody suspects anything fishy going on here…

10 . Wrong Address/Location

Mistakenly going somewhere else instead of where you were supposed to go can happen sometimes—especially if there are multiple locations within close proximity of each other (like stores within a mall). That said, don’t abuse this one either otherwise people might start suspecting something odd

When we find ourselves running behind schedule and desperately needing an explanation why we’re late, these top ten excuses should help us out of any tight spot we may find ourselves in eventually! Of course, these excuses should only be used sparingly—after all, lying isn’t exactly something that should become second nature over time… Be honest and responsible but also know that these excuses will help lighten things up if they need lightening up every now and then!

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