I received the following note:

Dear Professor Krieger,

Next weekend I will be attending a conference and I
won't be flying back until Tuesday morning. I will be missing class on
Monday, I am a little concerned about what I will be missing on Monday. Do you think I will be able to pick up the information I will miss quickly if I visit you at office
hours that week?

I wrote back:
What students who chose to miss classes did when I was a student was to consult with other students and learn from them. Are things different now? (It's not that I won't help you,I'll gladly do that. But you are choosing to miss class, and not being proactive in working around it. What would an employer think?)

You don't want to set yourself up. You want to be in charge and show that you can manage your life--unless you have real tragedy visited upon you.