A Discussion about Punctuality. (Or: Why the FUCK are you always late?)

[Domino-chan]

This is one of my major pet peeves.

I'm a punctual person. I don't like making anyone wait, and if I am gonna be late for whatever reason, I call ahead.

Conversely, I'm also pretty patient. I know not everyone is going to be on time, so I try to give people the benefit of the doubt. Still, I don't like to be kept waiting too long.

Why has this come up now? Allow me to explain...

I have a co-worker I get along with reasonably well. She's fun to talk to and a decent worker. But ever since I started she has never once come in on time. And a few weeks back, I offered to hang out with her. I told her I was going to pick her up at her place at a certain time. I texted her around 1pm and waited. I waited for 30 minutes before I gave up and left. I didn't get a response until 4:30pm. Needless to say I was irritated.

So I ask everyone, are you on time when it comes to work/dates/hanging out? If not, I ask why. I'm genuinely curious about this.

 

[Dr Shroom]

Punctuality is a virtue. I'm always a little too early than too late.
Unfortunatly a lot of people don't give a shit about being punctual and it pisses me off, its really not that hard.

 

[aria]

I try not to operate completely on Persian time, but it happens from time to time. If its business, then I'm going to be extra careful.

Punctuality is a virtue.

Ahh, Germans...


There was a great scene in the "No Man's Land" (2001) set in the peace keeping mess of Bosnia. The various UN contingents are trying to organize themselves. There's an Italian contingent and another group from another country and they get an update from the British Sgt on the radio that a mine-removal expert is coming in. The Italian mentions the guy being sent in is a German expert and he's scheduled for a certain time. The other guy points out that its that exact time right now. Just then they here his car pull up and as he walks up the Italian mutters "amazing..." (of course, the common language between everyone ends up being English)

 

[cdamm]

it's a bit cliche, but i live by 'if you are not early, you are late'. my job would be very difficult if i ran late a lot. sometimes it happens- the car in front of you explodes on the freeway and it makes you late. ok. i can handle a rare occurance of lateness- but never with any consistency. i always leave early to arrive early- be it a business thing, or a doctors appointment, or whatever. I hate being late.

 

[evil wasabi]

I am always on time socially. Never professionally.

 

[NeoTheranthrope]

This concept of "timeliness" is an invention of the 19th century, specifically with the advent of the railroads in Europe and North America. Except in cases where timeliness is genuinely vital; like with a train with a complex switching system or commercial airliners (where it has to leave on time or it causes a cascade of delays for other trains or planes on the same system); I consider it a cultural relic or form of low-level untreated mental illness: like OCD.

 

[rarehero]

I have a friend that constantly isn't on time.
This is for everything.
Even movies and strict time kind of things.
I just learned to budget my time around him.
Show up early or give him reminders.
He doesn't take it as nagging so it works out.
gee. I feel like I'm turning into my mother.

But anyways, work wise.
punctuality sucks.
There's a lot of times where I would be late,
but it would be because I'm constantly trying to
solve problems around the office,
or someone grabs me and presents their problems.
But it's always a legitimate excuse, but people still (rightfully) get annoyed.

 

[LoneSage]

I enjoy being a bit earlier than anything. If I'm late it puts my qi off balance and my whole day is FUCKED

 

[Wachenroder]

I am always on time...in my mind....in reality to others i'm always late...is that bad?

 

[evil wasabi]

This concept of "timeliness" is an invention of the 19th century, specifically with the advent of the railroads in Europe and North America. Except in cases where timeliness is genuinely vital; like with a train with a complex switching system or commercial airliners (where it has to leave on time or it causes a cascade of delays for other trains or planes on the same system); I consider it a cultural relic or form of low-level untreated mental illness: like OCD.

I wish it was OCD. I have tried to arrive late, fashionably. It never happens. I always arrive right on time. This is probably because I never turn in my work on time.

 

[Andy Is A Bastard]

As a habit I picked up from my MOS school in the service, I keep my watch and car's clock set 15 minutes fast and treat them as the real time. If I have to rely on other clocks or my cellphone's clock, I push myself to be at least 15 minutes early. If I'm not 15 minutes early, I'm late.

I also show up for flights AT LEAST 2 hours early to account for any possible delays.

I'm pretty OCD about being on time, though...

 

[oldschool]

I am always on time socially. Never professionally.

Words to live by!

 

[terry.330]

I can barely function between 6:00-9:00 am. Been that way my whole life. I can show up on time but don't expect me to speak coherently or remember anything important.

As far as work goes if I get up early and have time to get my shit going then I'm all set and hyper punctual. I run a lot of errands as part of my job and am always on time nearly to the minute. If it's early though then I am fucked I schedule everything important for after lunch but before rush hour. There's enough to deal with in the office I don't need to add meetings on top of that first thing in the morning.

I'm the same way with friends too, if I'm making an effort to schedule something I'm planning for it to go a planned. The whole text me bullshit when I've been waiting for you for 20 min already is lazy ass bullshit. People could at least have the decency to give a heads up and let me know their plans changed.

The worst is when people don't show up for shit and you call them and they don't answer then an hour later they text with some shit like "sry dud ended up stayng after 2 have a coffe wit this grl i like"

Yeah OK I get that but fuck when those plans go into motion let me know not to wait for you.

 

[Hot Chocolate]

Always a bit earlier, if I'm late people tend to freak out

 

[hyper]

I really dislike being late for anything especially when travelling. I try to arrive; 15 minutes early for social meetings/work schedule, 30 for trains, 2 hours for domestic flights, 3 for international.

 

[Heath]

Seriously i cant remember the last time i had to be on time for anything. its been that long since i had a appointment for anything i cant recall if i was late or early.

 

[alphagamer]

I am usually early, often way too early for appointments. If I'm late I make sure to call.

People who are always late themselves make the biggest fuss if one shows up late to meet them (from my experience).

 

[lithy]

People who are always late themselves make the biggest fuss if one shows up late to meet them (from my experience).

Now this seems to be true.

I always want to be slightly early rather than a couple minutes late. My wife is one of those "never shows up to work at a consistent time from day to day" and "always wants to wait a few minutes because no one else will be there yet" type of people. It drives me insane. So, I usually push her to get going when we have to be somewhere together and we end up being roughly on time instead of early or late. She does raise a stink if she is waiting on other people though, which I find a little bit comical.

 

[NeoSneth]

the GF makes me late to almost everything. She is oblivious.

Part of the problem with late people is they dont build in any extra time. You tell them to be somewhere at 10, most responsible pepole get there 10-15min early. Nope, not some asshats.

 

[Yodd]

I am on time if I am only 15 minutes late.

I would be late to my own funeral.

 

[Adderall]

At my last job, I absolutely hated it when someone showed up at my office for a meeting 10 or 15 minutes early. I would almost always be working on something and it's uncomfortable to make somebody wait even though they were the ones getting in early. I'd much rather have them show up 5 to 10 minutes late so I can properly "switch gears" and refresh my memory on what we will be talking about.

 

[RBjakeSpecial]

I always try to be on time. If I'm running late I send an email telling exactly what time I will show up.

Now that I have an iPhone and an internet connection I don't mind waiting for people. If they're late I just boot up the forums or some news and relax a bit.

 

[Average Joe]

punctuality is a priority in my world

i too tend to show up to places too early for fear of being even the slightest bit late

people being late doesn't really bother me but people being consistently late does

co-worker of mine is ALWAYS 5-10 minutes late

every... single... day...

bugs the hell out of me

if you can be 5-10 minutes late then you can be 5-10 minutes early (or even just on time)

 

[Setherial]

This is one of my major pet peeves.

I'm a punctual person. I don't like making anyone wait, and if I am gonna be late for whatever reason, I call ahead.

Conversely, I'm also pretty patient. I know not everyone is going to be on time, so I try to give people the benefit of the doubt. Still, I don't like to be kept waiting too long.

Why has this come up now? Allow me to explain...

I have a co-worker I get along with reasonably well. She's fun to talk to and a decent worker. But ever since I started she has never once come in on time. And a few weeks back, I offered to hang out with her. I told her I was going to pick her up at her place at a certain time. I texted her around 1pm and waited. I waited for 30 minutes before I gave up and left. I didn't get a response until 4:30pm. Needless to say I was irritated.

So I ask everyone, are you on time when it comes to work/dates/hanging out? If not, I ask why. I'm genuinely curious about this.

I basicly always come on time.

 

[Ajax]

My last job ruined me for a long time. One time, a car blew up on the freeway while I was driving to work and I was ten or so minutes late. I had never been late up to that point, though I had only been working there for like four or five months at the time. The boss was like, "oh, as long as you roll in sometime before thirty minutes after your shift starts, I don't think anybody's going to worry too much." This was like... I don't know, a free pass or something. I was late every day from then on. I worked there for four years. They would talk to me about it once a year or so and take this really lenient approach to bringing it up. "Aaron, we're not asking you to do it right away, but do you think maybe you could start trying to get to work a little earlier?" What the hell is that? On their part and mine.

I hated that about myself.

Moving to Japan fixed that problem right up. If you're late once here, you're ass is probably done. If you're late twice, there's no question.