We’re late! We’re late! for a very important date!
October 22, 2024
We all know them, or maybe we ARE them. You know, the chronically late. Those folks who can not make any appointment on time.
I am not one of them. My mother taught me to be terminally on time and so that’s how I’ve been my whole life. You could set your watch by me. (If you had a watch. Which no one has any longer.)
Good thing I learned well, because I had a long career in business and being late reflects badly. To say the least.
But of course, throughout my life I’ve had bosses, colleagues and friends who are late for everything. As the saying goes, they’d probably be late for their own funeral. Many of them (but not all) are otherwise very nice and thoughtful people. They’re just bad planners. And they laugh it off: “that’s just me!”
Well, yeah. But.
I’m pretty sure it would surprise them to know how badly it reflects on them. It might shock them to know that the message they’re sending is that they believe they and their time are much more important than the person who is waiting for them. I’m certain they would be floored at how much disrespect it shows for the other person and their time.
The message they’re sending is that their time is far more important than their colleague or friends time.
I’m pondering this today as I prepare to meet a chronically late person. Should I have given them a meetup time 15 minutes early? If I do that, must I be there 15 minutes early just to be safe? Should I just grin and bear it, even when I know my grin is forced because I’m so irritated at the disrespect?
There is no real solution to this –except tolerance.
How about you? Have you faced this? How do you handle it?
We all have our faults. And to your point, in a business situation, being prompt is required. And what about the excuses you might get. You say this person is always late…then plan your day around the lateness, or maybe create another way to communicate. In life, being able to adjust will help you make better use of your time, which yes, is important.
My sister and her family used to be 30 minutes late every Thanksgiving and Easter. They weren’t just late to being with the family and chatting before the meal came out. They were so late the meal was pushed back by 30 minutes. So my father told them the time to be there was 30 minutes earlier than the actual start time. And we could finally start eating when the food was ready, not after it was overcooked or cooled down. By comparison, I worked for a boss whose motto was that if you were 5 minutes early for a meeting, you were late. But that was when I worked in the Tri-State area, and she worked out of the Baltimore/DC area. Two areas known to be the “high-speed networks” of getting things done. Now I’m in the south, and it’s much more relaxed; five years here and still twitching over the casualness when it comes to time.
Yeah, makes me twitch, too. My first ever job was with the phone company and with over 100 year history, they insisted on the business disciplines. I learned there and never forgot. It’s just part of me. I do see being late as disrespectful. Always will.
I hate being late. My parents, too had the ‘if you’re not 10 minutes early, you’re late!’ motto. I am perennially early. Even when I had all of my eight kids (my 6 and 2 foster) and I was by myself, I was 10 minutes early for church. I have a SIL who is not only consistantly late but 3 hours late! And she’d get mad if we started eating before she deigned to show! Nightmare. I think I told myself then I’d never do that to another person!
Come on, people! Show some respect!
We are on the same page–it’s exactly how I feel. Why would it be considered acceptable to work ourselves around someone else’s inability to be on time? Makes no sense, is disrespectful and rude!
One of my pet peeves too. I can see once in a while, but all the time seems arrogant. “I’m too busy and important to be prompt” is the message, which turns me off. I think it says a lot about someone.
I hate being late but we are often. Someone once told me being late is a sign of selfishness. I know that’s right for us. We are on time for work, for planes and for Dr visits, appointments that include us, but we are late to church every Sunday. We just kind of suck
I am one of those chronically early and on time people. I hate being late, and am not fond of folks who are consistently late. But sometimes you have to overlook the issue and power on. I am no longer working so the irritation of meetings always starting late because someone couldn’t make it on time no longer irritates me.
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We all have our faults. And to your point, in a business situation, being prompt is required. And what about the excuses you might get. You say this person is always late…then plan your day around the lateness, or maybe create another way to communicate. In life, being able to adjust will help you make better use of your time, which yes, is important.
Those are all ways to deal with it, yep.
My sister and her family used to be 30 minutes late every Thanksgiving and Easter. They weren’t just late to being with the family and chatting before the meal came out. They were so late the meal was pushed back by 30 minutes. So my father told them the time to be there was 30 minutes earlier than the actual start time. And we could finally start eating when the food was ready, not after it was overcooked or cooled down. By comparison, I worked for a boss whose motto was that if you were 5 minutes early for a meeting, you were late. But that was when I worked in the Tri-State area, and she worked out of the Baltimore/DC area. Two areas known to be the “high-speed networks” of getting things done. Now I’m in the south, and it’s much more relaxed; five years here and still twitching over the casualness when it comes to time.
Yeah, makes me twitch, too. My first ever job was with the phone company and with over 100 year history, they insisted on the business disciplines. I learned there and never forgot. It’s just part of me. I do see being late as disrespectful. Always will.
I hate being late. My parents, too had the ‘if you’re not 10 minutes early, you’re late!’ motto. I am perennially early. Even when I had all of my eight kids (my 6 and 2 foster) and I was by myself, I was 10 minutes early for church. I have a SIL who is not only consistantly late but 3 hours late! And she’d get mad if we started eating before she deigned to show! Nightmare. I think I told myself then I’d never do that to another person!
Come on, people! Show some respect!
We are on the same page–it’s exactly how I feel. Why would it be considered acceptable to work ourselves around someone else’s inability to be on time? Makes no sense, is disrespectful and rude!
One of my pet peeves too. I can see once in a while, but all the time seems arrogant. “I’m too busy and important to be prompt” is the message, which turns me off. I think it says a lot about someone.
This absolutely how I feel
I hate being late but we are often. Someone once told me being late is a sign of selfishness. I know that’s right for us. We are on time for work, for planes and for Dr visits, appointments that include us, but we are late to church every Sunday. We just kind of suck
Well, that’s an extreme reaction. But I wonder why church.
Chronically early here. I almost freak out if I’m on time. Ha
Gee, I wonder where you got that? ROTFLMAO! (same place I got it)
I am one of those chronically early and on time people. I hate being late, and am not fond of folks who are consistently late. But sometimes you have to overlook the issue and power on. I am no longer working so the irritation of meetings always starting late because someone couldn’t make it on time no longer irritates me.
I know, isn’t retirement great in that way?