“An excuse is worse than a lie, for an excuse is a lie, guarded.” Alexander Pope*
So, I read this short article the other day and it got me to thinking about the lame, foolish excuses we use in life. Granted, this particular excuse is on a grand scale that baffles the hell out of me.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/teacher-racist-molest-black-student-article-1.1320376
This woman in Texas, who was a teacher, she’s now fired, is apparently using the excuse that she’s too racist to have molested a child at the school she worked at. Say what? Let me read that again… yep there it is. She’s TOO racist to have molested a black child. Wow. This is a new low. When I first read it, I was simply stunned, shocked and of course, disgusted. Upon further review, I’m still disgusted at the racist part, but the rest is almost too weird to comprehend.
I realize I can see why she may say that. I mean I suppose if I were racist I wouldn’t necessarily want to touch that person either (though I’m not racist so that’s not an issue). I’m not saying I identify with being racist or even approve, like or anything of that nature of the idea of using that as an excuse for getting out of being accused of molesting a child. It’s disgusting. It’s like saying being an asshole one way is somehow better than being an asshole in another way. If you ask me… that means you’re an asshole regardless. Who cares which way it is, but maybe that’s just me.
There’s also those incredibly foolish excuses people use for other sorts of things, particularly criminal activity. Amanda Bynes and Lindsey Lohan have become expert at coming up with excuses for their behavior. It’s hard to imagine how they keep coming up with them. I again ran across a site that showed a man who used the excuse of having to back inside the building for his food for why he left his child unattended in the car. Really? I also read another story of a woman who used the excuse that her child was asleep and wasn’t sleep much elsewhere and she really needed to get her shopping done so she left a note on the baby in the car and also left her phone number so if someone happened to see the baby wake up that person could call her. Seriously? That’s incredibly foolish and that’s putting it mildly. Okay – granted I’m not a parent, but I have enough friends who are and they tell me their stories. I know being a parent can be difficult and I know that sleep can be hard to come by, but leaving a kid in the car? I can’t think of anything that makes that one okay.
Just now looking through some sites, and this may not be accurate or factual – just my disclaimer here, and I came across a headline that said this woman said she thought the bicyclist she hit and then dragged for a long ways was a tree branch. I can only hope that’s fake. Foolish barely scratches the surface on that excuse.
Then of course there’s the run of the mill excuses for not doing tedious tasks or getting started on that weight loss program you’ve always wanted to – there’s no time, there’s no one to go with me, etc., etc., yadda, yadda. I know I’ve been guilty of those and I can still be an expert at making excuses. The thing now, though, is I’m tired of using excuses. It does get real old and when life hits a rut you can’t seem to get out of, well, you realize the excuses are what kept you in that rut. So for me, that’s why I’m working hard to stop the excuses and start taking action. It’s coming along at a snail’s pace but it’s coming along. That’s all I can hope for.
So what’s your excuse? What excuses have you heard lately or have made? I’d also love to hear about some serious epic excuses.
*got this quote off the net – so that’s the author of the quote as far as I know -just saying.
stormy musings 