10. My dog ate my homework.
“I got a virus”

9. I lost my keys.
“My battery was low and I lost my charger.”

8. My grandmother died.
“My grandmother’s computer died.”

7. I had the wrong conference room.
“The meeting had the wrong call-in number.”

6. It was lost in the mail.
“Did you check your spam filter?”

5. I gave it to… 
“What was your email address again? I think I sent it to the wrong person.”

4. I wasn’t home, I didn’t get your message.
“My phone has been acting really weird lately, I get really bad reception there.”

3. The library didn’t have that book.
“I tried, but it said the website was down.”

2. I went by your office, you weren’t there–Weird, I’ll come by again later.
“I sent you an email last night, didn’t you get it? Weird, I’ll send it again when I get back.”

1. I forgot.
“My calendar didn’t remind me.”

Some things never change.

For a running list of modern excuses, check out http://modernexcuses.com