One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
IllustrationStory★★★★One winter morning, an employee explained why he had shown up for work forty-five minutes late: “It was so slippery out that for every step I took ahead, I slipped back two.” The boss eyed him suspiciously. “Oh, yeah? Then how did you ever get here?” “I finally gave up,” he said, “and started for home.”
The point
A late employee's impossible excuse for slipping backward—then admitting he gave up and went home instead—humorously deflates elaborate excuses.
Audience
Adults
Tone
Humorous
To tell aloud
under a minute · 56 words