I learned promptness when I was a kid. When curfew rolled around, we were allowed a 2-minute lag time (to account for slight differences on clocks and watches). If I was more than two minutes late, I didn’t go out the next day. I was rarely given a break on this rule. Traffic jams didn’t count. “I was side-tracked” didn’t count. Inclement weather rarely counted. “I was having fun and lost track of the time” didn’t count.
This one really pisses me off. I’ve got one colleague who blusters in, dead on 9am, when I’m supposed to be teaching, in a room she has to unlock. Blames the roadworks, which have been in place for over a year. Every time.
It’s astonishingly inconsiderate. Only when I pointed out to her that, to start at 9am, I need to be in the room before then did it even occur to her that there was a problem. Not being aware of how your actions can affect other people’s ability to work is unprofessional. And her solution? I should wander around the building (which I don’t regularly work in), looking for somebody in posession of a master key. :dubious:
I never cut things fine, with regards to work. If I’m stuck in traffic, I’ll still be five minutes early, because I give myself a twenty minute cushion. It’s not brain surgery.
Chronically late people drive me crazy. There is this one woman at the place where I work; you can always count on her to come strolling in at least 10 minutes late. Since her job is to relieve someone else at the desk, that means that the rest of us have to plan to stay late when we know she has the next shift. Grrr. Her habit bugs everyone, but she doesn’t really even apologize any more.
(Like me, she is only extra help, and I suspect that if there were more people available for the job, she wouldn’t be kept on–but she stays because they need her too much.)
I like people who are on time.
Oh, and then there’s my in-laws. We’ve learned not to expect them until a couple of hours after they say they’ll arrive for a visit. This probably streses my husband out even more than it does me. Sometimes, they’ll call right about the time they’re supposed to show up, saying they’ve just left! What, you can’t call from your house, you have to use the cell? After they very nearly made us late for my graduation ceremony years ago, we learned not to count on them at all. That was, btw, a horrible day in some ways, and largely because they are always so late for everything. Argh.
People being late is my all-time worst pet peeve. Either social or work situation, it doesn’t matter - it says “you don’t matter - I do.” I am very seldom late - I am usually early enough for whatever I am doing that I make it a practice to keep a book in the car so I have something to do while I’m waiting.
Back in my dating days, I once quit seeing a boy after he was late picking me up for the third time.
One of the vets I worked for was a bear if the opening receptionist wasn’t on time. We were scheduled so that one receptionist would be there to open at 7:30 and the others would come in at 8. If the 7:30 person wasn’t there, he was a pain to deal with the rest of the day, even to the people who weren’t late. Since I lived closer to the office than anyone else and am chronically early, I volunteered to open every day I worked. Saved a lot of grief since one of the other girls couldn’t be on time if her mother’s life depended on it.
My coworker is chronically late every day. I am very prompt. You’d think this would annoy me, but it doesn’t annoy me one bit. Reasons:
The phone isn’t ringing all that much, we’re not in a call center anyway.
She’s always on time for any meetings.
She’s really a great, cheerful, enthusiastic worker.
So…no skin off my back if she’s late. If it did inconvenience me, then I’d get annoyed.
I get more annoyed when my friends chronically show up late if we’re going out and stuff. I hate waiting for people in a social situation.
Chronic lateness drives me nuts. It’s especially annoying at meetings, when people walk in 10, 20 even 30 minutes late, disrupt the flow of what’s going on, have to be handed whatever paperwork is going around and be caught up on the conversation. Those people are scum.
There seems to be a generational thing where no one under 30 thinks that the set time means anything. It’s like they think of it as a party time or something. That’s just when the meeting starts, but you can walk in any time you feel like it. They even do that with job interviews. It’s ridiculous.
Can’t stand 'em for all the above reasons, but unfortunately South Florida (where I live) has unofficially decided to recognize what’s called “Cuban Time,” that being anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes late. An hour late if it’s a social thing. You’re kind of expected to accept this as a legitimate excuse, but only if the late person is actually Cuban, or with Cubans.
Token complaining is allowed but anyone who makes a big deal out of it is considered kind of a prick, so no one really does. After awhile you just factor it in.
I’m going to take a different tact on this one.
(1st I beleive that work is rounded to the nearest 15 minutes, so 5 mintues late is not late)
Some people are poor at judging time - they are NOT being rude. Such people can see things as ‘not yet’ or ‘now’ So when they are ready to go to work, look at the clock and see they have 5 minutes, so in their mind, they have time, so why not do something else. Add to that any level of distractability and you have this cronic lateness.
The solution w/ these people is to offer a flexable scedual. Let them know they can they can get early and leave early, give them a window of time to arive, and link that to their departing time.
You can also use this for behaviour modification. If you notice someone would really like to leave early, let him come in early to make up the difference, if he’s late he can’t leave till his time is up.
I’m less annoyed with someone coming in 45 minutes late once than I am with someone who comes in 5-10 minutes late every day. And even they are less annoying than someone who comes in 5-10 minutes late every day toting a Dunkin Donuts large to-go coffee cup. It show’s absolutely no concern for their job or others in the office.
There is a distinction with the usual social event and a truly to-the-minute scheduled event. If you tell me, “I’ll be at your house for 7:00” it’s not like I evaporate at 7:15 and your visit is now pointless. Hell, waltz in at 7:30 if you like, have a beer (where’s the pie?)
If we’re to watch a movie together, though, the time is more important. Even then, though, if we’re each arriving independently, whoever shows up first saves the seat - as long as each of us is there before the show starts and one of us shows up in time to get a good seat.
If dinner starts at 7:00 and you’re late, you’re rudely disrupting everyone else. Apologize and grab a plate.
At work, if I schedule a meeting for 2:00 do NOT show up at 2:05 and expect that to be cool. That wastes the time of everyone who DID show up, and truly is a snub if there was no valid reason. If it’s any kind of event, social or work, that cannot begin until everyone arrives, it’s jerky to be late.
Aside from that, though, while I understand those that have identified as a peeve having to endure someone’s chronic lateness, I submit the following nuggets of wisdom:
“Don’t sweat the small stuff… and it’s all small stuff”
- Richard Carlson
“The problem with being punctual is no one is there to appreciate it.”
- Unknown
I’ll bet you’re late all the time. And don’t care who you inconvenience, right?
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Work is not rounded to the nearest 15 minutes. Unless you’re told you have flexible starting and quitting times, you are LATE even if it’s only 5 minutes.
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Adults who aren’t self-centered aren’t bad at judging times. Or if they are, they buy a watch and schedule themselves to be 15 or 30 minutes early, just in case their judgement is off that day. If you’re so easily distracted that you can’t make it to work on time, talk to your doctor about treatment for ADD. Seriously.
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No flexible schedule for you. Grow up and show up, or take a hike.
As others have said, a lot depends on the situation.
My mother has always been chronically late. That was fine for social events and other things with loose time schedules. It was bad if we went to see a movie–we frequently stayed in the theater from the end of one showing to the beginning of the next, so we could see the first half-hour that we missed by arriving late. It was bad if our ballet teacher couldn’t leave on time because our mother was late to pick up my sister and me. It was bad if one of my brothers had a softball game and arrived after the game had started (completely missing the warm-up).
I teach university classes now, and every quarter, I have two or three students who are chronically late, and who don’t seem to understand that when the schedule says that class starts at 8 or 10 or whatever, that means they should be sitting in their seat in the classroom at that time. Occasional late students are fine–everyone has the right to have unexpected setbacks in their routine. But when the same student arrives 10 to 15 minutes late every day, it disrupts the class, and bothers not only me, but their classmates. The biggest excuse they use is that the bus was late, and my response is that maybe they should take an earlier bus. (Their response: But then they’d get to campus a half hour early, which is a waste of 30 minutes of their day, apparently.) I have actually had students sign up for an 8:00 class, then come and ask if it would be all right for them not to show up until 8:15 or 8:30, since they have to put a child on a bus, or can’t get up that early. (My answer: No. If you sign up for an 8:00 class, I expect you to be there at 8:00. If you can’t be there at 8, then don’t sign up for the class in the first place!)
I am chronically early. It’s actually very hard for me to be anywhere on time, and even when I try not to, I arrive wherever I am supposed to be 15 to 30 minutes early. I typically have a book on hand at all times, so when I end up having to wait somewhere, I have something constructive to do. My teenage daughter is actually trying to break me of this habit, since she is tired of showing up everywhere unfashionably early. 
Coffee is a needful thing. Better to be 5 minutes late with coffee in hand, then to arrive perfectly on time, and immediately have to go out for 15 minutes to get coffee.
Besides, there’s a Dunkin Donuts at the train station! It didn’t even cost me any time! 
I’m usually late to work but it doesn’t impact anyone in the office or even customers. I am on salary so I frequently ‘work’ past five or even on weekends. When I had jobs where being on time was more important I was always there on time or early.
Now, call me crazy, but one irrational reason, in the back of my mind, that makes me late is terrorism. In OKC and on 9/11 some people were safe because they were running late. Terrorists are early risers.
See, I find the social slights way worse than the work slights (mostly because I work at home and depend on no one else’s schedule to get my work done). If I tell you to come over at 4:00, it’s because I’ve planned a cocktail hour and dinner and you’re going to spoil everyone else’s dinner if you’re late. If I specify a time, it’s because I may have plans after you leave and want to spend decent quality time before my next engagement begins.
Now, if it’s a free-form open house kind of thing, I’ll tell you, “Hey, drop by any time Saturday afternoon. We’ll just be sitting around guzzling brewskis. If you’re going to be late, bring your own beer.”
If I ask you to show up at four and you know that isn’t going to work for you, SAY SO and I’ll see what I can do to adjust the schedule to accommodate you. If I can’t, then you’ll have to be content with missing dinner or what have you.
:rolleyes:
That is exactly what god created the coffee break for.
If you show up at 9:00 then dissapear for 10 minutes to get a coffee, that’s one thing. Showing up at 9:05 every day, coffee in hand, you’ve just shown a lack of respect for every one of your co-workers.
I especially love it that the ones who show up at 9:05 every day are the first ones out of the office at the stroke of 5. They certainly aren’t late for quitting time. :rolleyes:
That first rolleyes does not belong there. Please do not read anything into that, DianaG.
For me, Kalhoun, the line isn’t between social and work, it’s between coordinated time-sensitive event and an arbitrary clock-label. My “have a beer at 7:30” example is if you’re popping by for a visit. If I say, “7:00’s good” it’s an arbitrary stab at a time. I coulda said “7:30’s good” just as well. If you show up half-hour after an “agreed to” time, that’s just ½-hour more time for me to post on the Dope 
You mentioned a planned cocktail hour at 4:00, dinner to follow. I usually take “cocktail hour” to mean “lateness buffer” i.e. dinner starts at 5:00 and there’s no excuse for lateness. If you show up at 4:30 you’ve only got ½-hour of drinkin’ before dinner’s served.
I mention work as an example of strictness required, but only with respect to meetings. “Start work at 8:30” and someone shows up at 8:40, I agree with you - no biggie as long the same work gets done.
I’m one of the compulsively punctual. I have a friend who’s chronically late. After much observation and discussion, I had an insight into his outlook.
When punctual people say “7:30? Right - I’ll be there” they start doing some backward planning to determine the steps necessary to get them to the appointed place at the designated time: “Let’s see - allow 5 minutes to park the car and walk to the theater entrance. About 15 minutes for the drive … no, make it 20 - could be traffic. Car needs gas - figure at least 5 minutes for that.”
My friend’s mental process is different. He thinks about himself being at the theater at 7:30, and decides there’s nothing wrong with that concept - he can picture it. But he does none of the planning necessary to get himself there on time. His usual behavior is to wait until 7:30 is so close that it’s staring him in the face, then start his process of departing and driving.
Nowadays, when we agree to meet and he asks at what time, I’ve taken to saying “Tell me what time we should agree on that will actually cause you to be there by 7:30. How about 7:10 - would that do it? Okay, let’s agree to meet at 7:10.” This doesn’t really work, of course, but he’s a trifle better than he used to be. I see no hope he’ll every be cured.
Actually no I’m not.
I’ve been accused of caring too much.
I beleive leagally you are wrong, you must be paid in 15 minute intervals.
I’m on the other side of this one. I set the scedual and can accomidate the ‘human factor’ of others very well (as well as sending others on a hike). Some people need a flexable scedual to preform at their peak, some need longer breaks, some need to take frequent trips to the John. These are what real people do.
Perhaps you don’t work with real people.