Don’t bother to find excuses. No one cares your “Because….”
I searched the whole floor. There was no sign of my student, who supposed to start her shift 2 hours ago. I asked every single staff on the floor, both morning and evening shift. No one has seen her today, yet.
She did not contact me for her absence. Neither did she ring the ward, nor did tell the school.
I called. No answer. Called again. Still no answer. School tried, no luck.
“That’s no good,” I said to myself.
Is she sick? So sick that she couldn’t contact anyone or pick up the phone? Has she been involved in a car accident and been unconscious?
Finally, she called back.
“Sorry, I’m late. You know, the traffic was bad. And I cant’ find a parking space close to the hospital. I had to park 15 minutes away. I’m walking to the hospital now. You know… it’s hard. I don’t know where to park. You know, ….” She kept on going.
“I’ll talk to you when you get here.” I had to cut her off. For her safety, and, frankly, I don’t care.
It really doesn’t matter what her reasons/ excuses are.
What matters is that she is late. Two hours late.
What matters is that she is not at where she’s supposed to be, doing things she is responsible for.
What matters is that she needs to get her butt here. ASAP.
On her arrival, she tries to explain again what made her late for 2 hours (2 hours, for God’s sake). This time she was stopped by both me and the unit manager.
“You need to hit the floor and start working, NOW.,” we both said.
And that’s all we said to her.
What we didn’t say was:
“You know the traffic is always bad at this time, so you should have departed early.”
“You know it’s always chaotic around the hospital, so you should have allowed extra time to look for parking. Alternatively, you could have left your house even earlier to catch the public transport.”
Did we say any of it to the student?
No. Not at all.
Why?
If she was 12-year-old. I might. But she is 32-year-old.
An adult should be responsible for herself.
What do people celebrate our 18th birthday for? For finally we are legally allowed to drink? For the legal age to drive? For being able to have a higher hourly rate than student rate? For the legal age to sign all ‘important’ documents and agreements?”
Yes, to all. To all those rights an adult is entitled to.
But many of us forgot rights come with responsibilities.
When you are not responsible for yourself, to the things you are responsible for. You shall be the one to embrace the consequences, including missing out great opportunities, losing jobs, ruin relationships, bankrupting… and the list just goes on. The worst, something that might cost a life, either your own or others’.
“Concern yourself more with accepting responsibilities than assigning blame. Let the possibility inspire you than obstacles discouraging you.” — Ralph Marston
So don’t bother to make excuses. The consequences are on YOU. Excuses only serve the purpose of shielding your guilt, not to change or reserve the outcomes.
When you are not being responsible for your actions, the consequence has laid itself out to you. That’s exactly why no one cares your “Because….”
Next time when you try to come up with sophisticated excuses, really, don’t bother.
No one cares. Even the most reasonable, dedicated excuse will not alter the result.
Better off saving up the time and come up with solutions, changes and plans that put them in actions.
