I'm lucky enough to have a handful of paid days off for the year, but because of the country I'm in, it's seemingly normal for my employer to ask why I'm taking a day off. Sometimes I have stuff going on that the company deems a worthy use of time off, but they're pretty antiquated in their thinking. To them, taking time off for a vacation is okay, but taking time off just to relax at home is a no go for some reason. Soon I'm going to a concert for one of my favorite bands that I wouldn't miss for the world and requested a day off two weeks ahead of time. Of course management can't do their job and are like, “We're finding it hard to find someone to cover for you that day…” and I'm sure they're going to ask what I'm doing, and subsequently not like that I'm taking time off to go to a concert.
So my question stands, what reliable excuses do you guys have in your back pocket for taking time off? I'm thinking I'll say a friend is going to be in town for the day and I'd like to see them. But obviously if I say that every time I wanna take a day off it'd be suspicious, so I'd like to accumulate a bank of excuses to save face.