Entry in progress—B.P.
   
Google News Archive
30 July 1976, Ottawa (Canada) Citizen, “Nobody beats Mel: How the Bad Boy of the appliance business became ‘greatest promoter in the country’” by Garry Bouey, pg. 9, col. 2:
“But if I do quit politics, you won’t hear me saying I want to spend more time with my family. I can’t. My family understands that.”
     
13 December 1976, Chicago (IL) Tribune, “Input to impact on y’all, Sugar” by Mary McGrory, pg. C3:
Another local phrase in much use, particularly by office holders who are about to retire untimely, is “I wish to spend more time with my family.”
 
6 April 1994, Orlando (FL) Sentinel, “Bacchus won’t seek 3rd term” by Sean Holton, pg. A1:
“In the Soviet Union, when a politician got in bad trouble, the line was ‘He’s sick and in the hospital,’ ” said Florida GOP chairman Tom Slade. “In the United States, it’s ‘I need to spend more time with my family.’”
   
New York (NY) Times
ABOUT MEN; Dabbling Dads
By Sean Elder
Published: June 11, 1995
(...)
The stance has even become politically correct; “I want to spend more time with my family” has become the excuse du jour when someone is squeezed out of a studio or board room and wants to save face.
     
14 December 2005, Palm Beach (FL) Post, “Family time outpaces dog ate homework for excuses” by Frank Cerabino, pg. 1B:
“Spending more time with the family"has gotten a bad name.
 
It has become little more than a bad excuse for leaving a job, especially a powerful one that might be considered the pinnacle of a career.
(...)
Like all good shortcuts of the truth, the spend-more-time-with-my-family excuse is both hard to disprove and easy to milk for a few extra drops of sympathy.
   
The Spoof!
“Spend More Time with My Family” Excuse is Replaced by “Pursue My Dream to Be a Porn Star”
Monday, 15 January 2007
Executives and politicians forced to resign their positions typically say they were motivated by the need to “spend more time with my family”. This sounds better in press releases than “I’m about to be indicted” or “they finally figured out I’m an incompetent boob”.
 
The “family” excuse, however, is starting to wear thin from constant use. Besides being an obvious lie, it implies the teller didn’t really give a damn about family life until his hand was caught in the cookie jar. A more upbeat and believable excuse is in order, especially one that the average voter or stockholder can relate to. Thus we have Home Depot ex-CEO Robert Nardelli explaining his recent departure with “I want to pursue my lifelong dream to be a porn star.” Donald Rumsfeld gave a similar excuse as he scurried away from the Pentagon last November.
 
The Moderate Voice
Karl Rove Resigning: ‘The Symbolic Quit’ (for the family’s sake)
Posted by DR. CLARISSA PINKOLA ESTÉS, Deputy Managing Editor, Columnist in At TMV.
Aug 13th, 2007 When key people resign ‘to spend more time with their families,’ this has become code, a euphemism to say: there’s trouble at Hamlet’s castle Capital T. Trouble. Something has gone very wrong.
   
Don Surber
More-time-with-her-family of the day
Well, you won’t have Campbell Brown to not watch anymore.
She’s leaving CNN for health reasons.
Her ratings died.
(...)
This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 19, 2010 at 10:00 AM