[SSJup81]

Originally Posted by Tsuwabuki

Stating reasons of how the mistake was made is not the same as shifting blame. There is no logical progression in the argument that it is. Words matter. That "fancy language" shows not just the sincerity of the apology and an understanding of the mistake that was made, but also gives the person you're apologising to a plan of action for correcting that mistake.

IMO, I think it probably depends on the reason given. The one that you posted earlier sounded...well, I dunno. It does sound like the "blame game" to me. Now, if in something like a traffic jam, I could see a person mentioning that, and then explaining how he/she will leave earlier to avoid the heavy morning traffic, but going on about your alarm clock or not having someone wake you up sounds like nothing but a person trying to talk his/her way out of getting into trouble...then again, you're also giving a solution to prevent it from happening again.

I don't know why, but if I'm late to work because I overslept, I wouldn't say anything or give a reason. I'd just apologize for being late and make a mental note of what I can do so that I don't oversleep again. Unless I'm asked, I won't tell.

At SunTrust, I was late a few times, but I had a legit reason for that and my boss would cut me some slack. I used to pick up a coworker that worked in another department. He was a blind guy, though. Sometimes waiting on him, would cause me to be a bit late, especially like that one time where he had gone out to dump some garbage off right before I got there, and actually misjudged his walk or whatever, and had a tough time getting back to his place and stuff. In that case I felt it was warranted to explain that to my supervisor.