Okay, so today I wanted to mess around with something called an “excuse chart.” I’d seen these things floating around online, and the whole idea is that they supposedly reveal something about your psychology based on the excuses you tend to make. Sounds kinda hokey, but I was bored, so I figured, why not?
First, I spent like an hour just trying to find a decent excuse chart. There are tons of them out there, but most are either super generic or weirdly specific. Eventually, I found one that seemed okay – it had a bunch of common excuses for things like being late, not finishing a project, or avoiding social events.
My Experiment (and Total Failure)
The chart I used was basically a big grid. One side had different situations (like “being late to work”), and the other side had a list of possible excuses (“traffic was bad,” “my alarm didn’t go off,” “I had a family emergency”). The instructions were simple: circle all the excuses you’ve used before, or that you think you might use. Then, at the bottom, it had some blurb about what your choices supposedly say about you.
So, I went through and started circling. Honestly, it felt pretty silly. I mean, who hasn’t used the “traffic was bad” excuse at least once? And I’ve definitely overslept a few times in my life. I ended up circling a lot of them, just because they were, well, relatable.
- “I forgot.” (Who hasn’t?)
- “I didn’t have time.” (Story of my life.)
- “I was feeling sick.” (Sometimes true, sometimes… not so much.)
- “Something unexpected came up.” (Always a good one.)
After I was done circling, I looked at the “answers” section. And that’s where things got really… vague. It said something like, “If you circled mostly excuses related to external factors, you might be someone who avoids taking responsibility.” Okay, sure, maybe. But it also said, “If you circled a lot of different excuses, you might be adaptable and resourceful.” So… which is it?
The “psychology answers” were so general, they could apply to pretty much anyone. It felt like reading a horoscope – you can always find something that sort of fits, but it’s not exactly insightful.
Honestly, the whole thing felt like a waste of time. I didn’t learn anything new about myself, and the “answers” were more amusing than enlightening. I think I’ll stick to actual personality tests if I want to do some self-reflection. This excuse chart thing? Not so much.
