Who has it worse?
Mrs. Chalupa and I disagree.
When we need to be somewhere (movie, doctor’s appt., etc.) one of us is ready on time and one of us is always late. The person who is usually ready (type A personality) gets stressed because they don’t want to be late. The person who is late is stressed because they feel rushed.
Who has the greater stress?
The person who feels rushed. Not only are they stressing because the other is getting pissed about being late, but they’re also stressing about forgetting something in their haste. At least, that’s how I feel.
Wouldn’t this topic be more appropriate in IMHO? [/wannabe moderator]
BTW poohpah, I don’t think you’re a scumbag. 
Don’t mind me, I just got lost for a minute there.
So I guess they won’t make me moderator now?
Well, the person who is always late wouldn’t feel rushed if they started getting ready earlier, would they? I hate to be late, and as far as I’m concerned there is no reason to be habitually late. You just need to manage time better. Gee, I wonder what personality type I am.
I’m the anal, uptight, on time kind. Nothing stresses me more than spending what seems like an eternity pacing up and down at the front door jangling my car keys while my g/f calmly wanders about the house. Then she hassles me for driving so fast. :o I’ve tried explaining to her that she can have her precious fifteen minutes extra sleep and we can leave the house fifteen minutes earlier and not be rushed. It’s a simple solution called “going to bed half an hour earlier”. Eugggh. A pet peeve.
I’m not obsessive, anally retentive, or even organised. But I do like to be punctual. Being late for things is rude.
However being early for things that everyone else is late for is embarrassing.
I think people should make an effort to be on time, and if they’re late then well, sometimes that happens. But I know people who don’t even think about starting to get ready for something half an hour after the scheduled arrival time! Now that’s just pathetic.
Organising your time is not a difficult process, and it’s important that when it directly affects another person you should make as much effort as you can to be punctual.
I didn’t really answer the OP, but well, I got to rant anyway.
My husband and I are punctual. A couple we used to socialize with is constantly late and damn proud of it. We missed a wedding because of them. We never went to movies with them. They were late to the surprise party I threw for my husband - and they were supposed to be taping the “Surprise!” moment.
We quit going out with them - it wasn’t worth the aggravation.
Thankfully the missus and I are both on-timers. I tend to actually fall into the “ready early” category, but I am trying to work on keeping my pacing down to a minimum. I’m not sure I could live with a habitually late person.
We still manage to be on-time for most things even though we have a toddler, the best excuse for being late known to humankind. Of course we define on-time in our own terms. If it’s an appointment or intimate dinner party, we are there at the requested time, but if it’s a larger non-time critical event (i.e. not a wedding), we usually plan on arriving 30-45 minutes late (I wasn’t aware of this, but apparently if the party invitiation says the shindig starts at 2:00, only fools actually get there at 2:00).
Unfortunately, we are surrounded by firends who fall into the predictably late crowd. You know the type. If you want to leave at 5:00, tell them you’re leaving at 4:00, that type of thing.
Don’t rush me… I’m thinkin’.
It drives me crazy when people can’t get ready in time. I have two dear dear friends who I love to death but planning to do anything with them is a chore because they cannot decide on anything without three days notice and once they have decided, they are always late. And they have this really casual air about it of, “Oh, it’s no big deal” so they’re aware of it, they just don’t care. Drives me up the wall. I don’t insist you be everywhere at point blank on the dot, but wandering in a half hour or more afterwards is just rude.
It’s been my experience that late-comers rarely care about your stress level.
So do what I do, and lie to them about what time they have to show up. Mrs.B’s grandparents are told to show up one hour before anything actually starts.
First of all, women are ALWAYS late.
Second, I tend to be punctual. The person who makes me late generally feels more stress because they have me shouting “FUCKING T-T-TODAY JUNIOR!!!” in their ear like Billy Madison.
I knew a contantly late woman… we don’t hang out much anymore. We worked together, and every time a bunch of us tried to plan something, C. would assume that our scheduled time was simply a suggestion.
Like, “We’re leaving for the movie at 6:00pm because it’s a 6:40 show.” And she’d vanish at about 5:55, finally wandering down into the lobby to meet us at maybe 6:15, 6:20. No apologies, just a grin and “Oh, I’m always late.”
So considering that lateness can really screw you if you’re aiming for a time-sensitive event, I’d say the on-time person is more stressed. Especially if the late-comer is blatantly uncaring about making other people late.
I’m definitely a type “B” personality, but if I am just on time, I feel as though I am late. I am always early for EVERYTHING, and my brother has never been on time for anything in his life. I think it is just something you are born with, like your eye color. (Mine are blue, bro’s are brown…wonder if that has anything to do with it?)
Scotti
As far as stress level goes, I’m gonna say the early person would probably have the most stress… it seems the more retentive type of behavior.
However, IMHO, being late is just rude. As my father always says, “Ten minutes early is five minutes late.” And I tend to agree.
My wife and I are VERY punctual. It drives both of us nuts to rush to get somewhere.
Her father had a good saying. If you are late and making someone wait for you, you are telling them that your time is more important than theirs. Simply put, true and good advice.
Nice generalization there.
I am a woman. I am almost always punctual, if I am by myself. I despise being late to meet someone, abhor being late to a movie (if the previews are showing, we’re late). Now, put my husband and I together, who can both be on time for something on our own, and we run late. I like to blame him and since he’s not here, I will. 
:rolleyes:
Maybe every woman you know is “always late”. This woman is always on time, or early.
I despise being late and for me being on time means being there at least 10mins early. I even make sure to allow extra time just in case there’s unexpected traffic (there never is, but I know the one time I don’t allow the time …).
My aunt is one of those perpetually late people and whenever I have to go anywhere with her I’m usually gnashing my teeth and anxiously checking my watch for 20-30mins while she finishes getting ready. And she takes her time doing it! My stress is definitely greater than hers.
I don’t understand how people can be that late. You know how long it takes you to get ready (you’ve been doing it long enough), you know when you should leave, so you should know when to start getting ready. What’s so hard about that?
I’m always on-time or early. Not anal retentive or “type A” either–I just leave earlier and then hang out until whatever it is happens. In my opinion, being late is too stessful and too much of a hassle to be worth it.
I’m mostly a type B, but I can’t stand being late, or when
someone who’s supposed to meet me is late.
I think the most rude things you can do are things that
imply you think you’re more important than everyone else,
and being late is such an implicit statement.
That’s also why line cutters and people who throw their
cigarette butts out their car window make me bristle.