# Are you a chronically late kind of person? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 10, 2014, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-chronically-late-kind-of-person/700951 "2014-10-10T11:23:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![genuinejon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@genuinejon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/genuinejon)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-chronically-late-kind-of-person/700951/41 "2014-10-11T03:53:35Z")
“A Man is Punctual” is good stuff for both the chronically late and those who love them: > **[A Man Is Punctual: The Importance of Being on Time](https://www.artofmanliness.com/character/etiquette/importance-of-punctuality/)** > > Learn why being punctual is essential to success in your career and life with insights from George Washington. > **[A Man Is Punctual: The Reasons You're Late and How to Always Be on Time](https://www.artofmanliness.com/character/etiquette/a-man-is-punctual-the-reasons-youre-late-and-how-to-always-be-on-time/)** > > Be more punctual with these easy tips. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-chronically-late-kind-of-person/700951/42 "2014-10-11T03:59:30Z")
Nope, I’m another of those chronically early types. ---
**Author:** ![sunstone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunstone/32/3372_2.png) [@sunstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunstone)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-chronically-late-kind-of-person/700951/43 "2014-10-11T04:16:44Z")
I almost always arrive just before I am supposed to, and (with no intent to insult others), consider folks who are chronically late to be at least inconsiderate, if not rude. Sorry, that is how I feel - and I do realize that most folks who are late are in fact fine people. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-chronically-late-kind-of-person/700951/44 "2014-10-11T04:34:32Z")
I chose “Yes, but I can’t help it so I just apologize a lot” though I wouldn’t phrase it exactly like that. I have a chronic problem with lateness. I have tried to improve on it, but there’s this trick the universe plays on me, where if I think I have plenty of time, and feel complacent, clocks everywhere get put forward. \ When I’m late, and it makes a difference (e.g. someone was sat there waiting for me) then I do apologize, and do really feel it, and try to make up for it by paying the dinner or whatever. But I won’t apologize for everything I’m late for; often no-one cares, or even sometimes it is something where the start time “really means” +30 minutes, or +1 hour. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-chronically-late-kind-of-person/700951/45 "2014-10-11T06:41:17Z")
Everyone in our family is a “get there early” person. Once my son was applying for a second job and his current boss told the employer who called for a recommendation that my son was only late once—and he called to let him know he was going to be late—and he ended up being late by only five minutes. My son got the other job. ---
**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-chronically-late-kind-of-person/700951/46 "2014-10-11T07:13:42Z")
Nope. I make a point to be on time whether it’s work, social gatherings or appointments. That’s not to say that I haven’t been late at times, but in general I am extremely punctual. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-chronically-late-kind-of-person/700951/47 "2014-10-11T09:59:35Z")
On man, this thread is total Doperville, where everyone is above average. ---
**Author:** ![alexandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@alexandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alexandra)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-chronically-late-kind-of-person/700951/48 "2014-10-11T10:47:33Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > On man, this thread is total Doperville, where everyone is above average. Yeah, I don’t get it. Most people I know are late at least once in a while. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-chronically-late-kind-of-person/700951/49 "2014-10-11T12:01:39Z")
> [@alexandra](#): > > Yeah, I don’t get it. Most people I know are late at least once in a while. > [@even\_sven](#): > > On man, this thread is total Doperville, where everyone is above average. …and I think we got another couple of people who are habitually late, and are trying to pass it off. 😃 For work? I’ve been late once in the last twenty years. People went out looking for me - figured I’d been in an auto accident. Actually, I’d just overslept. :smack: Rather embarrassing. Otherwise, nope. Being late is rude, and people who are habitually late are, in that way at least, rude and self-centered. People know this, and aren’t generally going to admit to it, thus the selection bias in this sort of thread. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-chronically-late-kind-of-person/700951/50 "2014-10-11T13:26:41Z")
_Yes, but I’m trying to improve._ I do pretty well, but my wife is worse than I am. I try to remember to tell her we’re leaving 15 or 30 minutes earlier than we are. She knows, but having that earlier time in her head helps a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-chronically-late-kind-of-person/700951/51 "2014-10-11T14:13:54Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > On man, this thread is total Doperville, where everyone is above average. Most of us haven’t shown up yet. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-chronically-late-kind-of-person/700951/52 "2014-10-11T14:16:21Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > On man, this thread is total Doperville, where everyone is above average. Duh. That’s probably because most habitually late people don’t want to come into a thread and feel like they have to defend themselves. For those of us that are compulsively early, it’s a lot easier to stand and be counted. ---
**Author:** ![CoastalMaineiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@CoastalMaineiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoastalMaineiac)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-chronically-late-kind-of-person/700951/53 "2014-10-11T14:52:35Z")
“A wizard is never late, Frodo Baggins! Nor is he early; he arrives precisely when he means to!” -Gandalf I love that quote, although I try to be 10 to 15 minutes early all the time. The farther away it is, the earlier I tend to be. On a two hour trip, I like to give myself a good 45 minutes extra to account for any unplanned delays. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-chronically-late-kind-of-person/700951/54 "2014-10-11T15:01:08Z")
Since the poll allows multiple answers, I chose both “No, being late stresses me out and I’ll walk through fire to be punctual” and “No, but it’s no big deal if I run behind,” since my attitude could be either of these (or something in between) depending on what we’re talking about being late _for_. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-chronically-late-kind-of-person/700951/55 "2014-10-11T18:54:49Z")
I always strive to be on time. My wife is the opposite. She is chronically late for everything. No matter what it is, or what time she must be someplace, she is always 20 to 30 minutes late. It drives me nuts. When I protest, she always has an excuse, e.g. “It’s not my fault, I had to get something done beforehand…” All of the clocks in our home have been advanced by 30 minutes. It doesn’t work, because she knows they’ve been advanced, and she will still be late. Her tardiness is so bad that she is no longer allowed to take the children to school in the morning (I do it now), and she can’t hold a regular job. I’ve tried to teach her about time management. But the problem is that she simply doesn’t care that she’s late. It’s impossible to teach someone to be on time when they don’t care. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-chronically-late-kind-of-person/700951/56 "2014-10-11T20:20:44Z")
> [@saje](#): > > Well, mostly. > > The person stressing me out was born and raised in Brockton MA 😛 Well, Brockton is a working-class manufacturing town and possibly less New England ethic than…I don’t know. Southie ethic? It’s difficult to articulate what I mean without sounding snotty, and I don’t mean to. ---
**Author:** ![MsKaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@MsKaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsKaren)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-chronically-late-kind-of-person/700951/57 "2014-10-11T20:36:50Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > None of the choices fit. I’m nearly always on time for meetings, but I don’t obsess over it. Yeah, me too, The other possibility is since I’m never late I really don’t know if would stress me out. I just think it wouldn’t. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-chronically-late-kind-of-person/700951/58 "2014-10-11T20:56:16Z")
> [@alexandra](#): > > Yeah, I don’t get it. Most people I know are late at least once in a while. When I read posts like “I’ve never been late in my life … except for that one time there was a 50-car pileup on the expressway, then I was 13.4 seconds late,” I place them in the same category as the Dopers who claim that they’ve never had a cold in their entire lives. It’s repackaging personal quirks as moral superiority. I’m like most people; I’m on time for the important stuff (like professional meetings, interviews, funerals, medical appointments), looser for stuff where it clearly doesn’t matter as much (parties, events where everyone stands around chatting for the first 15-20 minutes, etc.). Once in a while I’m late due to unexpected stuff like flat tires, flight delays, whatever. If someone reacts by giving me a prissy lecture on time management, well, they won’t be giving me that lecture a second time. Being obsessed with punctuality isn’t a license to be an asshole. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-chronically-late-kind-of-person/700951/59 "2014-10-11T21:02:23Z")
I’m a chronically early person. I get anxious if I’m going somewhere unfamiliar and do not have any leeway for getting lost, not being able to find a place to park, etc. > [@even\_sven](#): > > On man, this thread is total Doperville, where everyone is above average. Lateness is not like IQ where there is nothing you can do about it and where the scores will be distributed at least roughly on a bell curve. Everyone can be on time if they prioritize it. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-chronically-late-kind-of-person/700951/60 "2014-10-11T21:17:32Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Duh. That’s probably because most habitually late people don’t want to come into a thread and feel like they have to defend themselves. They’re coming. They’re just… Well, you know… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-chronically-late-kind-of-person/700951.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-chronically-late-kind-of-person/700951.md?page=4)