Tardiness breeds creative excuses - Your Life - Brief Article

Everyone's had mornings when what can go wrong does. In a survey by Accountemps, a temporary staffing service for accounting, finance, and bookkeeping professionals, executives revealed the i most-unusual and original explanations they have heard from tardy employees--everything from pet-related problems to long lines at the coffee shop. Here is a sampling of their excuses:

* "The dog was asleep behind the car and I couldn't back out of the driveway."

* "A helicopter landed in the street and I couldn't get around it."

* "My garage door was frozen shut."

* "My car keys fell into the toilet."

* "The line at Starbucks was out the door."

* "I forgot what day it was. I thought it was the weekend."

* "The wind was blowing against me."

* "My favorite actress just got married. I needed time alone."

* "My husband's pet spider died and I had to console him."

"While these examples are humorous, they address a frequent challenge for managers," notes Max Messmer, chairman of Accountemps and author of Managing Your Career for Dummies. "An employee's habitual tardiness can affect the productivity of the entire team, and overlooking it reinforces the behavior"

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