By Jessica Spoto

We all use excuses to get out of class or work or really anything that we don’t feel like doing at that moment. “The bridge was up” or “I’m sorry, but it was raining out and the traffic was so slow.” We even take it to the next level with excuses such as “My grandma died — sorry I missed your class.”

Why create these little white lies when you could just be honest, or say nothing at all? What would the world look like, and honestly what would SMCC look like, if everyone was just honest and didn’t make up those excuses? I’d like to offer a small piece of advice: If a teacher asks why you’re late or missed a class, be honest. You don’t have to say “I was lazy and didn’t want to get out of bed,” but if that is what happened you might say, “I had a hard time this morning. Sometimes I am simply unable to feel motivated,” or “I hadn’t done the homework for class, so I was anxious and didn’t want to feel embarrassed.”

Realistically speaking, little white lies might seem better than being honest, because people want to hear what they want to hear, the “sugar-coated” truth. The truth can be embarrassing to you, anger provoking for the instructor or maybe just something that doesn’t sit well. The best option might be to give a partial truth like, “I apologize for arriving late; I’ll try not to be late again.” Own it. Take the hit. If you add, “I understand that my attendance grade will suffer,” the instructor might even be understanding.

You can choose this route or the flip side: don’t tell the truth. Don’t let guilt sink in — you are actually helping those people who don’t want to hear the reality of things. You can sugar-coat those little white lies for the the rest of your life!