How does that rabbit go? The one from Alice In Wonderland? He looks down at his pocket watch, freaks out, and starts running all around the place, singing, “I’m late. I’m late. For a very important date.”
Well. Here’s something about me. I am not that rabbit.
Not even close. I am on time. Prompt. Like most always without exception.
I have always been this way. Since I was a kid.
I show up when I am supposed to. I try never to be “fashionably late.”
My life partner, on the other hand, will shine in many, many ways. But being on time is not one of them. She has been tardy on more than one occasion.
I say there are two reasons for this. One, she is super busy. And two, she procrastinates. She puts things off until the last possible moment. Even something like getting ready to leave the house.
Anyway, back to the concept of being “fashionably late.” Whoever said it is fashionable to be late? I’ll tell you who. The person who first convinced others that it is “cool” to be late was a chronic “late-person” themselves.
I say showing up late is rude, a bit on the bawdy side, and inconsiderate.
If someone tells you the meeting time, the dinner time, the kickoff time, is five o’clock, they don’t mean ten after. The mean five. Straight up.
On that same note. Doctors who tell you that your appointment is at eleven and they don’t see you until 11:45? Equally as rude. Don’t try to squeeze your patients into fifteen-minute intervals on our books when you know it takes more than half an hour to see them.
Dear Doctors. We have other things to do. Just because you have a PhD doesn’t make you King of the World. Those three letters just make your name longer if you choose to tack them on.
But now I’m off on a doctor tangent. I ran down a rabbit hole.
When all I really wanted to say is this:
Being on time is right. I don’t care who you are.
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“Arriving late is a way of saying that your time is more valuable than the time of the person who waited for you.”
– Karen Joy Fowler
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“Punctuality is not just about being on time. It’s about respecting others.”
– Thomas Chandler
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“Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.”
– William Shakespeare
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On time? Or late? It’s up to you, isn’t it?
