December 24: Punctuality Punks

I guess I can understand not arriving on time for certain events. Even though the invitation clearly has the party beginning at 7:00 pm, no one wants to be the first one to arrive. I've done it and trust me, it's not the cool thing to do. Getting to your seat just before the first pitch of a nine-inning ballgame at 7:05 isn't technically necessary, but if you're my ride, you better make arrangements to get yourself a new friend. For everything else, why is punctuality so difficult for certain individuals?

I recently arranged a time to meet with a girl for some coffee and the conversation found its way to our pet peeves; the conversation, that is, that started a half an hour late because of her tardiness. Because I was a tad nervous and I didn't want to offend her, I didn't mention my biggest pet peeve of all. Meeting a person for the first time and then criticizing her right away usually doesn't bode well for either party; I try to save my pessimism for at least the second date.

Today the man that was buying my refrigerator called and asked if I would be around in twenty minutes so he and his roommate could come and pick it up. An hour and a half later, they came and hauled the eyesore away. Now, I didn't have anything to do. I didn't have anywhere to be, so making me wait wasn't a big deal, but he didn't know that. When he arrived, no apologies were issued and no excuses were made.

I don't understand. When a person makes plans to be somewhere at a specific time, why can't he stick to those plans? People do it all the time, though, and nobody seems to ever care. "I'll be by your place at six to pick you up." "Let's do lunch. I'll meet you there at 1:30." These are specifics. "I will be wearing a red shirt." When a person makes a precise declaration, others have expectations.

One of my best friends has got to be one of the worst people in the world when it comes to punctuality and it used to drive me absolutely crazy. He was notoriously off by one to two hours with any arranged plans. There were times when I wanted to throw my hands in the air and never talk to him again and everyone else would just laugh it off. I hated that no one else ever got mad at him or ever seemed to be upset. It was just "who he was" and that was that.

I have since fallen victim to his lovable ways and am able to look past this excruciatingly annoying fault of his, but that's more than I can say for the rest of you. When you tell me to go to a bar at 10:30, guess what time I'm going to be there! Waiting for an hour while everyone else takes their time on Facebook is really irritating.

How do these people get by in life? I'm terrified of showing up to work late and some people do it every single day without so much as a slap on the wrist. That's probably the problem! No one enforces these rules anymore. I just don't find the humor in seeing a manager laugh at a girls excessive tardiness. How can you take yourself seriously in a role of leadership when you don't enforce the rules?

When a party starts at 7:00, it's acceptable to arrive up to a half an hour late. Depending upon your interest in a sporting event, it's alright to arrive late. But when a person is expecting you at a certain time or within a specific amount of time, be there! If you're always late, call and let them know when you're on your way so they have a rough idea of when you'll be there. It's common courtesy.