Super Bowl 2012: Best Excuses to Call Off Work on Super Bowl Monday

After pints of beer, pounds of chicken wings, and hours spent hollering for your favorite team, the temptation to take off for Super Bowl Monday is only natural. The day following the annual national sports phenomenon, which some arguably consider a holiday, may be known as the worst case of the Mondays. So after one-too-many Giants-themed gatherings or pro-Patriots parties, how does one go about getting out of work after the big game?

Of course, policies and regulations vary among different workplaces, but before calling in sick it's important to keep your bosses and colleagues in consideration. Take into account how many sick days you have, how many you've already used, and how many you think you'll need for the rest of the year. It's always a decent gesture to offer to do some work from home if necessary.

Also, remember the factors that are on your side of the argument. Second to Thanksgiving, Americans consume the most food on Super Bowl Sunday. And we all know food is the most important component to any national holiday, right?

According to green-themed news site TreeHugger.com, in America 1 billion chicken wings are consumed during Super Bowl Sunday, 325.5 million gallons of beer are consumed (enough to fill 493 Olympic-sized swimming pools!), and 7 million employees miss work the next day. So, even though the but it should be a holiday excuse might not go over too well at your office, it might help ease the guilt as you sleep off that super-sized hangover.

If you're going to miss a day of work, you at least want to give the impression that you care about your job (just not enough to cut your Super Bowl celebration short). Be sure to come up with a logical, well-planned excuse that seems plausible. For example, telling your boss that you have a migraine (code name for hangover) is a feasible excuse, considering the best cure involves going back to sleep and covering your face with a pillow to block all light. But perhaps, one of the best ways to get out of a day of work is the old food poisoning excuse. If your boss knows that you ate something that doesn't agree with your stomach and haven't been able to leave the bathroom all morning, chances are he or she won't want to investigate the details. Your coworkers don't have to know that your alleged food poisoning is the result of one too many celebratory margaritas.

It's also crucial to know what you shouldn't say to your boss. Here are some examples of some of the strangest excuses for calling out of work according to a CareerBuilder online survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management:

- Bats got into the employee's hair.

- A bucket filled with water crashed through the ceiling of a bowling alley and hit the employee in the head.

- The employee hurt his back chasing a beaver.

- The employee caught a cold from a puppy.

- The employee got his toe caught in a vent cover.

So as you digest those chicken wings and prepare for the ticker-tape parade, remember to come up with a realistic (and somewhat honest) excuse when it comes to calling out of work, offer to do some work from home, and keep in mind how your absence will impact your coworkers.