The Standards for latenessthread got me thinking.
We have had a number of heated debates here on the dope about what constitutes being late. And is it harder on the person that is late, or the person that is waiting. Basically, who should accommodate whom?
Cell phone use is not as much of a hot button topic, but people can still be divided. Also, there are some here (like myself) that rarely use a cell, and grew up without them (we actually had a party line for a while.
I was wondering if there is a correlation? Do people that depend heavily on cell phones not worry as much about schedules? Do those of us that grew up not being able to call anyone from anywhere to anywhere pay more attention to being on time?
Myself –
Very, very punctual.
Grew up without cell phones, and hardly ever use it. It’s only turned on when I need it, or I’m out of town.
I’m punctual.
Grew up without cell phones. (Not overusing them today either.)
I did not have a cell phone until about two years ago. (I’m 31.)
When I was in residency, this was a pain in the ass. I’ve always been very punctual–if I say I’m going to be somewhere at 6:00, I’m there at 6:00. Most of my friends were late-types, and they all had cell phones, so at the appointed meeting time they would start calling one another to say where they were and how late they’d be. My fellow punctual friends could be in on the phone circle.
Meanwhile, I held down a lot of barstools waiting. Even though I knew it would be an hour after we said before anyone else would be there, I couldn’t make myself be more than fifteen minutes late.
I have a friend who is not punctual at all. He has a cell phone. He doesn’t use it to call me when he’s running late because the fact that he’s late is just his nature.
Me, I call people to tell them I’m late as soon as I know I’ll be late - but I am rarely late.
So I am not sure how much cell phones make a difference in whether or not you are late…
I am 21 and am fairly confident I’d drop dead in some horrible and painful death if I didn’t regularly use my cell. Yup, I’m one of those y’all hate. But I digress.
I think cell phones actually necessitate an increase in timeliness and courtesy. I mean, with cell phones there’s no reason for you to NOT get in contact with someone, if you know you’re going to be even a few minutes late.
I’m incredibly punctual because I think there is nothing more rude than being late. Sure, things happen and then you call. If you’re always late you’re just a jerk that doesn’t respect the people you’re with.
I had a “friend” who got rid of his cell phone because he grew tired of being hassled by people who were trying to find him when he was running late. He felt that everyone was invading his privacy.
OTOH, I consistently have my cell phone on and will let people know as soon as I figure out that I’m running late.
Now if I could get just get reception on the subway.