We've all been late at one time or another.

Whether the car broke down, traffic was bad, or you overslept, there are many believable reasons why you'd turn up to something a few minutes late. It happens - sometimes we get away with it, sometimes we don't. However, this Reddit thread has revealed the most bizarre reasons why people were late... and they're pretty unbelievable:

The shot wound

Years ago I had a student come in who had missed the test the previous week. He said a while back he had been shot in the head and they were unable to remove the bullet and the previous week it had started shifting and he was in the hospital. Showed me the scans of his head and everything.

 

Jail time

Right now another student’s (college) friend let me know that he is in jail for a few weeks and asked me if I could please not drop him as he wants to stay in the class.

 

Couldn't leave the gaff

Locked in their own house was a good one.

 

It's Disney's fault

I'm a TA and last semester a student emailed me saying he would be late to class because he got bit by a squirrel.

There was also a different student who came to class with a baby turtle he found one day (on time though). It's possible I was teaching a class full of misfit Disney princesses.

 

Ooops

I teach preschool, so most of our excuses are detailed explanations of their bowel movements.

 

Aliens

I once signed my daughter in late to elementary school, and the parent before me had put “UFO Sighting” in the “reason for tardiness” box.

 

Call the fire brigade

Some kid showed up really late to class and told our teacher that he was in the bathroom and the trash can was on fire.

We all sat there in disbelief and we all went to look out the door to see a bunch of smoke in the hallway. Then we see a security guard run out of the bathroom with a smoking trash can in his hands.

 

Stop the lights

Primary teacher here - teaching 11 year olds, kid comes in 30 mins late because he was waiting for his LED shoes to finish charging.

Turns out he was not lying and proceed to moonwalk over to his chair with his shoes flashing. Couldn't even be mad it was too cool/stupid at the same time.