Thread: habitual tardiness...

i take it as a lack of respect for my time, very irritating.

In the tattoo shop I've worked at the past 16 years we had a guy like that ..... until he was late once too often. Some people ain't got there 'thing' together. Scatter brained ..... too much going on up there so they can't focus on the task at hand. Hence they are habitually late. Others are just plain lazy and irresponsible. Just IMHO.

My girlfriend tells me she's "late" all the time, but it hasn't worked out yet. I'll just keep trying.

Good luck, 35 years ago my wife was always late when we were courting,Some things never change.

Yeah - this girl I was dating was late once. Then her dad said I should marry her.

Originally Posted by HNSB

Yeah - this girl I was dating was late once. Then her dad said I should marry her.

I imagine that is the kind of thing that would annoy your wife.

James.

I have a couple friends that are habitually late, so much so if they say 8pm I'm thinking closer to 9. My wife is sometimes late and never bothered by it, I just don't understand it myself.

On the flip side I like to be early but then wait to be on time. When an appointment is made at work and somebody turns up 30 minutes early I find that highly annoying as I have things to do in that 30 minutes. I can't say it but I'm tempted to tell them to wait outside.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Of course there are also cultural factors too. Living in New Mexico "the land of manana" lateness is an accepted part of things here for many.

Spain used to have this, at least with trains.
I was told that if you need to be somwhere at 12 o clock and the train ride is listed as 1 hour, then you could leave at 10, but would certainly be too late. You could leave at 8, and you could possibly be on time. But if you took the 6 am train, then you would be on time.

That said, I hate it when people are not on time. If you arrive on time, you are already late. You should be there 5 minutes before.
Now, if you are a guest somewhere, then being 5 minutes too early is right on time. Not too much earlier, because you'll inconvenience the hosts. If you have to be somewhere for a registration or something moderately important, you should aim for half an hour early and bring a book or something to occupyt yourself while waiting.

Showing up late is a big disrespect if specific time was required.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Is a female thing

It could also be considered a Thai thing. I have students who will turn up to class twenty minutes late. I even have students who think it is acceptable to come to class for the last five minutes.

When it comes to my wife, I just tell her we need to be where ever half an hour early.

In my students, I just punish them.

I understand what you guys are saying about tardiness. Yes it could be seen as disrespectfull. Yes it could be seen as immaturity. But I seem to be the guy that arrives consistently late. It doesn't happen because I want to or I disrespect other people. It just happens because I always find myself discovering that I still have, for example, something else to do arround the house... I try very hard to be on time or slightly early but my plans seem to end up in the bin... However, mind you, I now manage - due to a great effort of discipline - to be punctual most of the time.