I can deal with the smaller day to day "I got bad news and didn't do my assignment" type stuff.

I've gotten extremely exhausted over the past several years (even before the pandemic) of naked, open attempts at manipulation in this regard. There have been times where I've listened or read a student's retelling of why they didn't complete a months-long assignment, and it basically boils down to "I had a really bad day right before it was due, which is exactly when I started working on it."

One student this semester brought lots of crying and tears while they explained how they needed to "have room to grow" after ... they had gotten a speeding ticket. That meant they needed extensions on multiple assignments. The tears dried up almost immediately and turned to downright aggression when I told them that it wasn't a valid excuse.