Teachers Share The Best 'Wild But True' Excuses Students Have Given For Being Late

When students arrive late for class, teachers hear any number of excuses.
These range from the believable, such as being caught in traffic or illness, to the truly unbelievable.
So unbelievable, in fact, that teachers likely won't be able to help but roll their eyes at how ridiculous their excuse was.
Until they find themselves biting their tongue when against the odds, the far-fetched excuse turned out to be true.
Redditor MineCraftPlayer48 was eager to hear the wildest excuses teachers heard from their students which eventually turned out to be true, leading them to ask:
"Teachers of Reddit, what was the best excuse for being late that turned out to be true?"
Why Would Someone Lie About This?
"Hmmm, I had a student whose father had died and had not done any homework or prep for the geography class."
"From what I heard the teacher scolded him for not doing so, but the student didn’t want to say anything, presumably sensitive issue, so his best friend shouted at the teacher 'DONT YOU HAVE ANY SHAME, HIS FATHER DIED LAST NIGHT' and the teacher said 'I don’t care', there was an audible gasp and I was in the next room."
"Needless to say that teacher is no longer employed here."- 19you1
Sad But True.
"She had to take her sister to school and drive her mom to rehab."
"She was always late to class because her mom just wanted to sleep in."
"Problem was, if the mom was late or did not go she would have violated her probation and gone to prison."
"I never marked her late."
"If she missed anything important she could come in at lunch or after school to make it up."- Rm156
But They Still Made It!
"Student here, I headed into school early to get some studying done in the library before my night class."
"I was one exit away when I was caught in a 3 car accident."
"Most of the expressway afterwards was gridlock with only one lane left open."
"I did eventually make it into my lab class 15 minutes late, with a few scrapes and bruises."
"My professors reaction was simply 'Oh that was you!'"- AlienCowAbduction
Where To Even Begin?...
"Not a student, but one of my Teaching Assistants when I ran a pre-school in West Philly."
"'Sorry I missed yesterday, my friend shot my mom'."
"Naturally, I'm a little speechless."
"'Oh no it's ok, he was AIMING FOR SOMEONE ELSE'."- Scoutnjw
Yep, You Heard That Correctly
"I was one of about 20 kids who were late to school."
"We showed up at the school office as a group and when questioned why we were late, we said 'the school bus blew up'."
"They questioned 'ao the engine blew up'."
"The kids 'no, the whole bus, in flames. It blew up'."
"There was much conference between the teachers, all of them thinking we embellished the story."
"Next thing you know, one of the admin staff has the news website open, very obvious image of an entire bus on fire with a bunch of kids in our school uniform standing in front of it."
"Our late slip for class read 'school bus blew up'."- AusPB90
Caring Is The Sign Of A Great Teacher
"Former student here."
"'Sorry, boss, my stepdad tried to kill us last night and I had to deal with the cops'."
"Professor just looked at me for a moment and said 'dude do you want to like, go grab a drink and talk about this after class?'"
"Man, my English prof was a bro when I was in college."- DoughnutMcCoy
Biking Under The Influence?
"Told me he got pulled over by the cops for wobbly driving on his bike and they thought he was drunk."
"Turned out he was just dodging all the slugs on the street."- Fortisvol
Peter Griffin Can Relate
"A guy in my college class missed class one day."
"The next day he came in with his eye covered up and medical paperwork in hand."
"Apparently he got pecked in the eye by a chicken."- BrrToe
Highway Robbery!
"School sporting event."
"Kid on our team was late because someone stole his windshield wipers and it was snowing out."
"Kept having to pull over to the side of the road and wipe off his windshield."- wrstlr3232
All The Proof They Needed...
"Not teacher, but pupil."
"I was in a car crash on my way to school."
"About 5 cars involved because some jerk decided to overtake us since we slowed down coming to a turn."
"So a trip to the hospital to get checked, and then school 3 hours late."
"I had small cuts all over my face from glass flying everywhere and had a really sore shoulder, but my teachers wouldn't believe me until police showed up because they forgot to get a statement from me."
"Apparently some of the other involved people died and the jerk got 8 years in prison."- jogfx
No doubt, some students will go to almost absurdly great lengths to get out of being in trouble.
After reading some of these stories, however, maybe teachers will err on the side of believing their students.
For who knows, maybe the dog actually did eat their homework...
We all have movies which we can watch over and over again.
Even if they're thrillers with a twist you never saw coming, or a comedy with jokes you've heard over and over again, some movies are so captivating or comforting, that they have endless rewatchability.
Then there are the movies we never want to see ever again.
And not because they were awful, far from it, these might be found on the list of some of the greatest movies ever made.
But rather, movies which took us on such an emotional journey, that we simply couldn't put ourselves through it again.
"What movie is so good you'd recommend it to all your friends, but so emotionally traumatic that you'll never watch it again?"
Just Too Real
"'Elephant'."
"The 2003 Gus Van Sant film, not the Disney nature doc."
"It takes place in the fictional Watt High School, in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon, and chronicles the events surrounding a school shooting, based in part on the 1999 Columbine High School massacre."
"The film stars mostly new, and non-professional actors, which gives it an even greater sense of realism."- Horta
A True Story, Thus All The More Devastating
"'Hotel Rwanda' fits."- Wallstreet-beer-guy
A Must See, But Just The One Time
"'Come And See'."
"Wonderful movie, but even more devastating than 'Grave of the Fireflies', in my opinion."- Mimameird
Gloriously Devastating
"I'll give the same answer every time this comes up: 'Mary and Max'." Reddit
A Different Type of Christmas Movie
"'The Hunt' (2012)."
"A Danish film by Thomas Vinterberg starring Mads Mikkelsen."- lfctfcoi
A Warning We Hate Being Reminded Of
"'Threads'."
"Made in 1984, it's a harrowing depiction of a major nuclear exchange between the United States and the Soviet Union."
"It is incredibly bleak and tragic."
"The most effective representation of the horrors of nuclear war that I've ever seen."
"Everyone should watch it once, in my opinion."
"But no one needs to see it twice."- Scaphismus
But All Viewers Will
"'Boys Don't Cry'."
"It made me depressed for days."- IrianJaya
Young Leo At His Most Heartbreaking
"What's Eating Gilbert Grape."- photogeek8
Just Try Sleeping Afterwards...
"'Eraserhead'."
"1978, truly the most effective psychological horror film I have ever seen."- gaccha_antiquechair
A Journey Worth Taking, Just The One Time...
"'The Road'."
"Watched it when it first came out'"
"Loved it'"
"Can’t put myself through it again though."
"It’s so hard going and heartbreaking."-Reddit
There is something remarkable about movies that can so easily elicit an emotional reaction.
Leaving us grateful to have seen it.
And making us even more grateful to go on The Holiday with Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz for the 2,700th time to lighten our spirits afterward.
Every now and again, when we go out shopping or treat ourselves to a nice meal at a restaurant, we can't help but find our jaws drop when we notice a price tag.
Sometimes, we might force ourselves to admit that the main course, cashmere sweater, or advanced cooking product was worth every penny.
More often than not, though, we find ourselves wondering if the item in question is, indeed, worth its exorbitant cost.
The answer almost always being no.
Redditor Thic_water was curious to hear the most overpriced clothes, food or merchandise anyone has ever come across, leading them to ask:
"What’s the most overpriced thing you’ve seen?"
How much would the upgrade cost?...
"When I was in Dubai 2 years ago there was a cell phone store in the mall that sold phones that ranged from $30k -$120k."
"They were basically phones covered in diamonds and gold."
"That's $100k for something that is probably already obsolete."- holla09
A Cauliflower By Any Other Name...
"A couple of years ago, Mark's and Spencer Food, a high end supermarket in the UK, tried selling 'Cauliflower Steak' which was a thick slice of cauliflower for £2.50."
"It was covered in plastic."
"You could literally buy a whole cauliflower in the same row a bit further down for 40p."
"They were crucified for it, it was hilarious."- patchyj
"Oh, Canada" Indeed...
"$800,000 for a 500 square foot 'condo' in Toronto."- B-416
An Ironic Miscalculation...
"I remember seeing a basic scientific calculator for like $300."- Saper-Ja-
Cheesy Goodness...
"I swear, people sell oddly-shaped Cheetos for THOUSANDS."
"Literally THOUSANDS."- KipsyCakes
The Counters Better Glisten...
"I saw a small thing of Lysol wipes being sold for $22 in a store last week."- rickeysneekzzz
All Right Then...
"A few years back Nordstrom was selling a rock in a leather pouch for $85."- Happy_Fun_Balll
Can You Say Outdated?
"I saw an external ZIP disk reader in the clearance bin of Wal-Mart for 10% off it's original price."
"In 2011."
"So it was going for $180 and had parallel ports."
"in 2011."- AudibleNod
Will They, Though?
"In a downtown consignment shop, an oil painting of sheep grazing in a meadow had a price tag of $18,700."
"It was by an unrecognized artist."
"When asked why it was priced so high, the shopkeeper said 'because someone will like it and buy it'."
Sometimes, people might price things stratospherically high in hopes that some might assume it must be of great value and pedigree.
But no matter where it's from, or what it's made of, a rock in a pouch is just that.
A rock in a pouch.
What other things would you add to this list? Let us know in the comments below.
No matter the country, the law is a difficult beast.
Laws can change street by street.
So who knows if you're doing what's right?
But every civilian fancies themself an expert.
Guess what genius... we're wrong.
But on TV...
Redditor IfItQuackedLikeADuck wanted the legal eagles to share some truth.
So they asked:
"Lawyers, What's a law that isn't real that normal people insist exists?"
The law is tricky. So help us out.
We see you...
"People that think it's illegal to be video taped in a public space."
RmeMSG
Goodwill...
"In the UK, people often claim that if an item is listed for sale in a shop then the shop legally has to sell it to you at that price. This is not true at all as the shop doesn't have to sell you anything at any price."
"Often as a gesture of goodwill shops will honour erroneous prices, but they are under absolutely no obligation to do so."
HereForTheTurnips_
Her Choice
"Probate attorney here. I’ve had many people ask me when the 'reading of the will' is going to take place. I explain to them that only happens in movies. But one of these days I am going to have one, and hire a mysterious blonde wearing a veil to sit in the corner quietly."
"Then I’ll tell everyone that she inherits everything. Provided, of course, that she must adopt the decedent’s cute but troublemaking six year old child no one knew about. Or she can spend the night in a haunted house. Her choice."
SpaceFaceAce
Thanks Eric
"That commercial use of a photograph means selling the photograph."
"Commercial use means that there is an implied endorsement. You can take and sell photos of Eric Clapton all day long. Put that same photo in an advertisement for a certain guitar without a release and you can be sued."
xaclewtunu
Not true...
"An arrest isn't magically invalidated if the police don't read you your rights on the spot."
"There could be a whole thread of just misconceptions people have from watching Cop TV."
Auntie_Hero
I knew Olivia Benson was lying.
$$$ Talks
"In California, it's not illegal to discuss your wages with your co-workers, despite what your boss might say."
Coolest_Breezy
100 Feet Away
"Am a lawyer. This is not a law that doesn’t exist, but a law that is misunderstood. Typically, you can’t just go get a restraining order against anybody. Most states have specific laws for who you can get restraining orders against (typically household members or former romantic interests). Usually, it’s only in domestic violence cases or for victims of crimes. You can’t just get a restraining order and comically use it to keep someone 100 feet away."
"*in the United States, at least."
hawkjc19
Damn you Sam
"'When my parents die, the government is going to seize a big chunk of the inheritance and I'll get nothing.'"
"In the US this is a very common misconception. Although state inheritance taxes vary, the US federal taxes on inheritance don't actually kick in until the estate's value exceeds US$5 million."
"So, for the vast majority of working class folks, the federal inheritance tax won't have any effect. But people will still talk to their family lawyers and ask about how much Uncle Sam is taking away when mom or dad die."
dusmeyedin
Suggestions
"It's a law that exists but widely misunderstood is the concept of Entrapment. If the police put a Bait vehicle in a high crime area, that is NOT entrapment. If the police are watching a bar known to overserve to see if there are impaired drivers at the end of the night that is NOT entrapment. Entrapment only occurs when a gov agent suggests committing a crime that you were not otherwise going to commit."
Dinothegreen
Secrets
"A real, but widely misunderstood law is HIPAA. People think it protects you from literally any discussion of your health issues by anyone at all. Nope. Not even close."
I need a lawyer. NOW!
Do you have any misconceptions to add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.
There is so much history we are never told.
Historical facts are vital.
And we're talking ALL of the facts.
So much truth and just good old fashion fun and drama is just left out.
Why do I keep finding myself saying...
"Well that is new information."
Redditor ReflectGaming wanted to discuss parts of history that may shock.
"Whats an NSFW fact about history that we don't get to hear too often?"
Well, things are about to get scandalous.
This is an NC-17 piece... just FYI!
Wars
"Roman troops where provided cow intestines condoms, as STD epidemics could decide the fate of entire wars."
ExistentialClutter
“The Final Member”
"There is a legal penis size in Iceland. It’s an old law from the Middle Ages after a woman was married off to a man and on her wedding night was so disappointed with how small his penis was that she took him back to the church to have an annulment. Because of her a law was made that a man must be at least three inches to marry."
"There is a wonderful documentary called 'The Final Member' in which this is an actual problem."
EmperorJJ
Supply and Demand
"In ancient Egypt, soldiers proved their battle prowess by presenting the severed penises of their slaughtered enemies. Traditionally, severed hands were presented, but in 1182 B.C. Libyans, and other allies invaded Egypt and were defeated by the army of Ramesses III, and Ramesses suspected that some soldiers were claiming extra credit by presenting the hands of women as well as the male soldiers. So he demanded penises instead. His victory inscriptions mention 12,535 foreskins and hands, and has images of the piles of the body parts at the Medinet Habu mortuary temple."
WillShakeSpear1
Priorities
"The original sex toy was created almost 1500 years before the wheel."
just-a-humanoid
That makes sense. See we are more open to sex talk than we think.
For Nothing
"There was a guy that tried to prove that yellow fever wasn't contagious and so he would pour the infected vomit into his freshly cut opened would, pouring it into his eyes, and drinking it."
"And soaking into a bath of it. And smearing his body with blood, pee, and spit. He was fine because yellow fever isn't spread through direct contact, it's spread through mosquitoes. So he did all that for nothing. His name was Stubbins Ffirth look it up."
UnknownDaemon42
FOOLS!
"In 1488 an Italian noblewoman Catarina Sforza-Riario locked herself in a castle to save herself from her enemies. Her enemies managed to capture her children and threatened to kill them if she wouldn't surrender. She climbed on ramparts, lifted her skirt to expose herself and shouted 'Fools! Don't you see that I can make myself more children?'"
Nerevanin
In Space
"Astronomer here! In 1992, two astronauts did not disclose they were married to NASA until it was too late to replace one of them and thus became the first married couple in space. While the two astronauts in question are not the kiss and tell types, most people assume this means space sex has happened (obviously you don’t have to be married to try it, but it does make it harder to figure out the couples). NASA’s official stance is that it hasn’t, but I’m not sure people really believe them."
Andromeda321
LOLOLOL
"The CIA once considered sending the Soviets condoms that were large labeled “small” to convince them that the US was well endowed."
bkai76
History is saucy. Oh my...
Do you have anything to add? Let us know in the comments.