Running Late, Thinking Fast: The Excuse That Saved The Day

I had an English teacher in either 9th or 10th grade who was tough on students who didn't show up on time. A student would have to stand at the door for the whole class, and be expected to have taken the same notes, and do the same work as everyone else.

BUT- if you had an excuse, be it real or completely made up, and it was good enough, or entertaining enough, her and the class- could decide to let you in.

This worked out for certain people who were late quite often, and had a creative mind. An entertaining story could get you the vote into the class.

I always thought this would be a good thing to roll out to all classes, and could be a fun thing to apply to life in general too!

P.S. That same teacher was also great about reminding us to not use the word "like" as a random filler word. EVERY single time, if you said like (and there were plenty of times everyone said it), she would interrupt and ask- was it LIKE you did such and such, or was it that you did such and such?