I would place myself in the very punctual category.
Bordering on the anal-retentive/obsessive-compulsive punctuality category.
I can’t stand being rushed and always (over)compensate on the side of being early.
At work, I am one of the first three people to arrive -everyday- which means I’m at the school no later than 6:00 a.m. (Official start time is 6:50 a.m.)
For meetings, conferences and the such I prefer to be in place at least ten minutes prior to the start time.
If I’m going to the movies - 20 minutes.
Now for social engagements, it’s completely different. Lord knows it is unbelievably lame to be the very first person to arrive at a party (It only took me a couple of times to learn this) but for these I still prefer to be part of the early crowd rather than the stragglers who insist on making an entrance.
I’m in the anal category too. Always too early. I use the time now to get a coffee, read meeting notes, whatever I can, but I’m always early even for social things. Bit of a stupid thing, really.
Add me to the club. One pet peeve I have is for someone to promise to meet me at a specific time and then arrive late (assuming no accidents, sickness, etc). I have a friend that I have lunch with 3-4 times per year and she is never on time, but I have adapted to it so that it no longer bothers me.
Arrive with more than two, less then five minutes to spare. Too early tends to irritate other people, but i have an almost morbid fear of what might happen if i am late.
I am either early or on time. I used to get crazy over people who were late, but have tried to tone that down. However, I never understood how people who wouldn’t steal money from me will happily steal bits and pieces of my life away without a thought.
I am habitually early to virtually every appointment, function, movie, etc. I had a friend call me a few weeks ago asking if we could go to a movie. He called at 7pm, the movie started at 7:30pm. There’s no way we could have made it to the movie by 730, so I suggested we go to a later one. (We would’ve been 5 minutes late).
I don’t think I’ve ever been late to anything in my whole life. My room-mate is chronically late though. I can’t stand it. I must’ve been a Swiss timepiece in a previous life.
For a long time I was Johnny-on-the-spot. I’d arrive at everything, social or business, pretty much to the minute. It didn’t bother me to be the first one to a 7:00 PM cocktail party, at 7:00 PM, and I wound up helping with last minute prep more than once. With business stuff, I established a reputation for punctuality that people came to rely on.
But I’ve become much more relaxed about it all in recent (3-4) years, influenced largely by my work and play mates.
If it’s a movie, I like to be early in order to get a seat in the back where no teenagers can kick my seat throughout the show.
The type of parties I like to attend are very relaxed. Just show up and stay awhile is the main requirement.
If it’s for dinner, I’m on time or a bit early. Not fair keeping a host waiting dinner for latecomers, or making people wait at a restaurant or whatever.
Business functions are strictly on-time to the minute or early. I’ve been late a time or two but really very rarely in the 20 plus years that I’ve been working.
I’m terribly anal about being on time because it bugs the hell out of me when other people aren’t. With the exception of work, if I have to be someplace at say, 7:00, I will plan to be in place at least 10 minutes early and then kill time until it is 7:00 before making an appearance. Being early is just as bad as being late, to me. If they wanted me there at 6:45, they wouldn’t have said 7:00.
Compulsively on time. My wife is always late. It has got to the point that sometimes (when it is not far), we go in separate cars to the same place so we can each keep to our own schedule.
For instance, my work schedule officially starts at 8:30 AM, but I’m virtually always at the office by 8:00 at the latest. My manager is not real strict about daily schedule adherence as long as you put in an average of about 8 hours a day, so getting in a half-hour early allows me to usually get out of the office a half-hour earler than I would if I came in at 8:30.
I think this habit of being early developed when I for some reason convinced myself to always allow time for possible bad traffic while driving to something.
I am and always have been early to most events. There’s something about giving yourself enough time…expertly planning each phase of your preparation…arriving at the desired location early…that is very relaxing to me. This technique leaves room for unexpected delays. I never feel stressed because I know I have a nice time cushion in which to work. I cannot STAND to be rushed and plan accordingly so I never have to.
On a side note…One thing that I cannot stand even more than being rushed by my own actions is being rushed by someone else. All my life I’ve been super-punctual, perhaps more punctual than anyone I have come across. For some reason my SO has this horrible habit of rushing me when we’re not even going anywhere special. We could be going out to the store, out to go for a run, or wherever else and he rushes me. I can feel my heart start to pound even as I type this. What the point is for him doing this, I have absolutely NO idea. For all of you naturally punctual people, wouldn’t this also drive you crazy? I apologize for the pit-like rant, but I just had to get that out.
I’m usually five to ten minutes early whereever I need to be, it runs in my family. But recently, whenever I get to our “buddy meeting point” I find that I’m the last one there! Ugh, that pisses me off.
Because my sense of direction is bad and I constantly get lost, I work hard to be early and almost always on time or early. Even when I try to be late like for social engagements I end up arriving earlier than I like. But this gives me the benefit of arriving relaxed and not annoying others. I know it bothers me when people are always late and don’t seem to care.
I usually arrive within 5 minutes of my scheduled start time at work. In-laws and spouse tend to tell me 5:30 when they mean 6:00.
I think I get it from my father. He called it “Casey Standard Time.” He was never on time for anything, but was never excessively late for anything either. The day we buried him, my mother ordered the hearze driver to not take the car out of park until 20 minutes after we were scheduled to leave for the church, assuring that the funeral mass would start late, since it was a widely held belief that my father would be late for his own funeral. When the priest met my mother at the steps of the church before the mass, he asked if everything was alright. She shocked him by saying “Now he is truly the late Paul Casey.”
Golly. So many early people. Obviously you don’t work where I do. I’m always the first to a meeting (about two minutes early). The big hand moves to the twelve. It moves to the five. Someone else shows up. She tells me she’s got to go pee (too much information). The minute hand continues to the ten. Someone else shows up. They’re sorry, but they’ve got to make a quick phone call. Finally, the person who called the meeting in the first place shows up. In fourth place. He left his notes in his office. Is it OK if he runs over and gets them? Of course it isn’t, but without them there’s no meeting. Go get your fucking notes while we talk about “Friends” or someone’s latest liposuction.
The only time I am on time is when I am by myself.
The more people I add to the mix, the later I am Just me and three kids = 5 mins late, hubby three kids and me = 10 mins late, hubby all five kids = half hour late.