# BS Excuses People Use
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bs-excuses-people-use/669757
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [September 26, 2013, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bs-excuses-people-use/669757 "2013-09-26T22:21:50Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 5
### Author:  [@Septima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septima)
#### Post date: [October 1, 2013, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bs-excuses-people-use/669757/81 "2013-10-01T13:15:37Z")
That analogy is so fucking bullshit and offensive. There is no “test”. There is nothing you are doing “wrong”, or “right”. There is no possible feedback to give. There is no “passing”.
Either a particular woman likes you, or she doesn’t. That is up to her. Individually. Her choice. If she doesn’t there is nothing you can do. She dated the other guy because she liked him. She doesn’t like you. End of story. Nothing you can do.
That whole analogy makes my skin crawl. How fucking creepy can you get?
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### Author:  [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)
#### Post date: [October 1, 2013, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bs-excuses-people-use/669757/82 "2013-10-01T13:35:33Z")
I made no claims that the analogy was factually correct, simply that this it what it feels like from inside - like you would feel if you had to try to learn maths based on what seemed like random guesswork, and the only clues you got were “Yes, you pass/No, you fail”.
But since it’s so fucking creepy, feel free to put me on ignore.
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### Author:  [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)
#### Post date: [October 1, 2013, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bs-excuses-people-use/669757/83 "2013-10-01T13:41:17Z")
…Plus, of course, people who do not “get” mathematics are not usually met with shrieking hostility when they try to explain what trying to learn mathematics was like for them. :dubious:
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### Author:  [@Tequila\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tequila_Party)
#### Post date: [October 1, 2013, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bs-excuses-people-use/669757/84 "2013-10-01T13:56:35Z")
> [@the\_diego](#):
>
> “You hate \_\_\_\_s because you’re one yourself.”
>
> PS: am presently embroiled in a thread about homosexuality, and I’m straight.
And are so consumed with the topic that I’ve now seen you post it in three separate threads, two of which are completely unrelated to the topic of homosexuality. I’ll leave this here to let it speak for itself.
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### Author:  [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)
#### Post date: [October 1, 2013, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bs-excuses-people-use/669757/85 "2013-10-01T14:00:39Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#):
>
> When it’s in reference to an invitation to a sporting event or something else I have absolutely no interest in, I tell them “Sorry, but I have a cake in the oven. Or an arms deal in Tangiers. I don’t remember which.”
>
> Like when Zotti invited me to help move cinderblocks from his basement to his back yard.
“Sorry, can’t make it, cat’s on fire.”
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### Author:  [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)
#### Post date: [October 1, 2013, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bs-excuses-people-use/669757/86 "2013-10-01T14:44:27Z")
One time my stepmother’s daughters were supposed to take her on a day trip with them - lunch, shopping, that sort of thing. They cancelled at the last minute because “There’s no room in the car.”
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### Author:  [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)
#### Post date: [October 1, 2013, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bs-excuses-people-use/669757/87 "2013-10-01T16:24:04Z")
> [@Neidhart](#):
>
> “Sorry, can’t make it, cat’s on fire.”
See? I _told_ you to put the cat out…
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### Author:  [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)
#### Post date: [October 1, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bs-excuses-people-use/669757/88 "2013-10-01T18:14:16Z")
> [@the\_diego](#):
>
> “You hate \_\_\_\_s because you’re one yourself.”
>
> PS: am presently embroiled in a thread about homosexuality, and I’m straight.
Certainly there are cases in which that doesn’t apply, but we do have some evidence that [homophobes doth protest too much](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8772014).
[QUOTE=is homophobia associated with homosexual arousal?]
The authors investigated the role of homosexual arousal in exclusively heterosexual men who admitted negative affect toward homosexual individuals. Participants consisted of a group of homophobic men (n = 35) and a group of nonhomophobic men (n = 29); they were assigned to groups on the basis of their scores on the Index of Homophobia (W. W. Hudson & W. A. Ricketts, 1980). The men were exposed to sexually explicit erotic stimuli consisting of heterosexual, male homosexual, and lesbian videotapes, and changes in penile circumference were monitored. They also completed an Aggression Questionnaire (A. H. Buss & M. Perry, 1992). Both groups exhibited increases in penile circumference to the heterosexual and female homosexual videos. Only the homophobic men showed an increase in penile erection to male homosexual stimuli. The groups did not differ in aggression. Homophobia is apparently associated with homosexual arousal that the homophobic individual is either unaware of or denies.
[/QUOTE]
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### Author:  [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2013, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bs-excuses-people-use/669757/89 "2013-10-02T09:40:59Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#):
>
> When it’s in reference to an invitation to a sporting event or something else I have absolutely no interest in, I tell them “Sorry, but I have a cake in the oven. Or an arms deal in Tangiers. I don’t remember which.”
>
> Like when Zotti invited me to help move cinderblocks from his basement to his back yard.
Oscar Wilde: “I must decline your invitation owing to a subsequent engagement.”
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### Author:  [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2013, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bs-excuses-people-use/669757/90 "2013-10-02T09:46:06Z")
> [@Tequila\_Party](#):
>
> And are so consumed with the topic that I’ve now seen you post it in three separate threads, two of which are completely unrelated to the topic of homosexuality. I’ll leave this here to let it speak for itself.
And thanks for tailing me. Feels flattering somehow.
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### Author:  [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2013, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bs-excuses-people-use/669757/91 "2013-10-02T10:11:50Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#):
>
> One time my stepmother’s daughters were supposed to take her on a day trip with them - lunch, shopping, that sort of thing. They cancelled at the last minute because “There’s no room in the car.”
My mum’s friend once used: “there’s fog and I’m afraid to ride a train in the fog”. The car, I could see, but the train? :rolleyes:
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### Author:  [@Tequila\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tequila_Party)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2013, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bs-excuses-people-use/669757/92 "2013-10-02T13:37:30Z")
> [@the\_diego](#):
>
> And thanks for tailing me. Feels flattering somehow.
It shouldn’t. I just read the threads that interest me. Who knew you had to declare your not gonna be consumed by teh evil gays in every one of them?
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### Author:  [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2013, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bs-excuses-people-use/669757/93 "2013-10-02T15:07:33Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#):
>
> Actually, I think that a kludge that works well enough is far superior to something that’s pretty but is basically non-functional. I’d say that the old boss had his priorities straight.
+1
I could be that boss.
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### Author:  [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2013, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bs-excuses-people-use/669757/94 "2013-10-02T15:17:20Z")
> [@bump](#):
>
> \*\*“I may have something going on… let me check and get back to you.” \*\* Yeah. If you don’t want to do whatever it is, or you don’t want to commit to it, just say so. Dithering about whether or not you have another thing is a BS excuse; you know if you do and you know if you don’t. Commit one way or the other and say so.
I put this in the same category as 'can you help/do/spend time doing whatever on a particular day/time".
If you don’t want to do it - saying so provokes an argument.
If you really do have a prior committment and you say what that committment is, then the person will try to ‘help’ you reaarange your schedule to fit in their {more important} task and/or say you should do theirs instead…provoking more arguments.
Saying you may have another task and will check gets you the hell off the phone/ends the conversation quicker and most normal people understand if you don’t get back the answer is no.
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### Author:  [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2013, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bs-excuses-people-use/669757/95 "2013-10-02T15:23:33Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#):
>
> If you consistently find yourself having to choose between pretty or functional, you have a systemic problem with timelines.
YES! Agreed! However, despite bringing it up forcefully many times, that does not change.
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### Author:  [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bs-excuses-people-use/669757/96 "2013-10-02T15:46:53Z")
> [@Macca26](#):
>
> I’ll throw in one that I use on my customers:
>
> “The internet must have eaten the email, I don’t see it anywhere. Well, I guess you’ll have to send it again.”
>
> What actually happened is I somehow missed the email from two days ago. I’ve already found it and am staring at it right now, but there’s no way I’m going to admit to that. It’s not that I don’t feel bad, it’s just if I ever do admit to actually doing something wrong, someone in the chain says “NEVER EVER admit to a customer that you did anything wrong”
Which to me, flies in the face of taking personal responsibility. I had a boss who always advised me to never admit to a screwup. That forced me to lie to the client, which I was terribly uncomfortable with. Finally, I just said, “You know what? I think the world would be a better place if people owned up to their mistakes and then proposed the action steps they’ll take to fix it. So that’s what I’m going to say to the client, ‘Yes, we screwed up and here’s what we’re going to do to make it better.’” She had to get over herself. I wasn’t going to compromise my personal integrity so some faceless, heartless corporation doesn’t “look bad.” Hrmph.
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### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2013, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bs-excuses-people-use/669757/97 "2013-10-02T18:07:29Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#):
>
> If you consistently find yourself having to choose between pretty or functional, you have a systemic problem with timelines.
The problem might be internal or external. That is, sometimes you have a boss who likes to impose unrealistic deadlines, so you go with functional rather than pretty.
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### Author:  [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)
#### Post date: [October 3, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bs-excuses-people-use/669757/98 "2013-10-03T18:06:47Z")
\*Every \*excuse is BS.
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### Author:  [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)
#### Post date: [October 3, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bs-excuses-people-use/669757/99 "2013-10-03T19:03:20Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#):
>
> \*Every \*excuse is BS.
Soooo… Honest questions here, what is the alternative? Outright rudeness? Is that not “BS”?
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### Author:  [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)
#### Post date: [October 3, 2013, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bs-excuses-people-use/669757/100 "2013-10-03T23:45:11Z")
^
I’m late on purpose.
I slept. It felt good.
He/She’s is an a-hole/airhead is why.
Hitler didn’t kill enough of them. (Ooooo…)
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