That’s So Cliché, but I Forgive You! 9 Excuses for Showing Up Late that Made Japanese Women Laugh

4. Say something that she cannot verify: “There was an elderly lady who needed my help on my way here.”


“It sounds like an overused excuse, but I guess I can’t get mad at him for doing good,” mused a Japanese woman in her 20s. Playing “the good guy” could do the trick. In case she asks for the details, you’d better have some facts to back up your story, such as “I helped her cross at the light.”