While it's great that we are discussing this topic, my first reaction is: why does a worker even need an excuse? Isn't it a bit odd that companies who otherwis

While it's great that we are discussing this topic, my first reaction is: why does a worker even need an excuse? Isn't it a bit odd that companies who otherwise trust employees with business critical matters, sometimes matters of life and death even, won't trust them to be mature enough to decide when they need to take time off? When I was in grade 7, me and this girl Elissa were seated at the back of the class. We had the kind of desks where you had to lift up the top to get at your books. We were lifting the tops up to hide behind them while 'secretly' telling each other stupid jokes and giggling. In retrospect, the teacher definitely knew what we were doing but he probably figured since we were generally good kids he'd just let us get away with it and have a bit of fun.