Punctuality - a virtue or a vice?

paddyann my DD and her family were at a wedding in Poland recently. Everyone on the groom's side was seated early (and fed up that they'd made the trip from Scotland but the Polish side hadn't even turned up!) Then, to their surprise, the bride and her dad rushed up the aisle almost running. Apparently, the bride has to be there before the congration. Her 'side' then all filed in. Absolutely no waiting!
It was a lovely old church in a rural area. 12 weddings booked that day. No chance of photos outside the church as the next bridal party was queued up outside!

I used to have an uncle who was always obsessively early, culminating with the day he and my aunt arrived at 8.30am when they were expected at 12.00pm. We were just getting up.

MY DF wouldn't even let them in the house, he told them to go away and come back at 12.00, but even then they arrived at 11.45.

A friend was invariably late so we used to tell her our get together, meeting, or whatever, was half an hour before everyone else to ensure we weren't all kept waiting.... The ploy usually worked.

I have a lousy sense of time and can never work out how long anything will take. I never arrive early for anything such as trains, as waiting on windy platforms is no fun at all. However, my warped sense of time can also mean that I arrive early. It's entirely hit-and-miss.

Am I the only one to admit to cutting time keeping fine?

My father died nearly twenty years age, but I still hear his voice in my head saying “Don’t keep your mother waiting!”. I am very punctual, and I think being late is bad manners and shows lack of consideration for those waiting.

Those who were late mum used to come out with her usual acid remark " you'll be late for your own funeral ".
Grandma70s that remark from my dad used to echo in my ears.

I like being punctual, or even a bit early. Surely it's thoughtless to keep people waiting, even in this day of age of less manners?
On the other hand, if someone turns up at my house earlier than expected it throws me into a flat spin!

Nfk- don’t know why you are because there are plenty of you about!
Only this week I put in an extra client, who had turned up a day early, because I knew my next client would be late.
I have a handful of lates on my client list. I tolerate it because I have no choice but I do hate it. I fail to see why, if the majority of people can always be on time some never can. In fact isn’t it more difficult to always be late?
I also know that it can be irritating if a guest turns up too early and have been know to pull over and wait for a few minutes when I’m nearly there.

BTW I have a reception area so clients can get to me early, go to the loo , if they need to and read a magazine.

Like MiniMoon I am married to a man who is obsessive about timekeeping. We are never late for anything, but, echoing N&G, we were both in the military so it is not in either of our natures to be late. I have a friend who could not be on time for anything if she tried, so we all have to compensate for it. It would be truly irritating if we did not love her dearly.

I’m amazed at how late those modern brides are, paddyann! On the other hand my friend and I were a full hour late getting to the first Asian wedding celebration I was invited to and the only people there were the family still putting decorations up. I’d been really worried about setting off so late, but my friend warned me we’d still be too early! “Pakistan time”, she said with a shrug.

I can never work out what causes our " late" friends to be late! Do they just lose track of time? We are holidaying together ..we are in the same building,same facilities etc. But you can guarantee always them to arrive after others! THOUGH MY " here's your hat, what's your hurry" DH is equally frustrating. Pacing the hall with 10 minutes to go before departure! Me? Little Miss Perfect!? ???

oh.. sorry for SHOUTY letters!,

The colleague I have who is almost always late lives a five minute drive from where we meet and is often fifteen (or more!) minutes late - so she obviously does not leave home until after the time we are supposed to meet. Grr! So rude!

Late DH was well known for faffing around before leaving for anything, so I used to tell him we needed to leave an hour earlier than we had to. In that way we always left on time!

I am always at least 15 minutes earky for every thing. I think it is rude to turn up late knowing someone is waiting for you, unless its due to something beyond your control.

Ism always like tone on time. I hate being late and get a bit annoyed if I am held up, especially if it's my own fault. DH always leaves it till last minute to get ready which means we are sometimes late. I get very annoyed with him but it makes absolutely no difference.

Without a doubt a virtue.

It is down right rude to be late. If I think I am to be even five minutes late I send a message to apologise.

I'm always on time; I just manage somehow to always be on the dot. I must have inherited it from my Dad! I have a friend who is always at least half an hour late. She ruined late DH's 60th birthday dinner party by being so late for the transport to the restaurant that we missed the pre-dinner drinks & nibbles. I think being late, unless there's some valid excuse like accident, death, illness, earthquake, WW3 or similar, is just plain downright rude and inconsiderate

I am always early and luckily OH is of the same persuasion. The only downside is that when he has an appointment at 18.00 pm (for instance) he expects to be seen at 18.00 pm on the dot and gets very irate if kept waiting. I'm talking private hospital appointments here where he is paying !! It makes for a very tense wait.
We have two daughters each and both have one who is always early/on time and one who is always late, drives us both mad.

My message should have read - I always like to be on time.

I also like to be on time, it’s very rude and bad manners to keep others waiting

I think it's incredibly rude to be late, I will sit in my car for ten minutes or so if I arrive to early for an appointment.

Aha now I know who all these other people sitting around in cars or round the corner from houses are - it's us early bird Grans!