I like to divide excuses into two categories: blunt and subtle. The blunt “dog ate my homework” excuse sounds like this: “I’m sorry I missed our lunch date. My assistant had it marked down for the wrong day on my calendar.” Message: See, it’s not that I forgot the lunch date. It’s not that I don’t regard you as important, so important that lunch with you is the unchangeable, nonnegotiable highlight of my day. It’s simply that my assistant is inept. Blame my assistant, not me.
