Are you always late or prefer to be early?

Always early or on time. It is, in my view, the height of bad manners to be late and assume that ones own time is more valuable than that of the tardy person.

Early I have never liked being late for anything. I like to be prompt and if meeting someone I expect them to be on time.

Duvetdiva

I am phobic about being late, I shake, get stressed and would prefer to not go somewhere if it seems I am going to be late.

Always early or on time ......

Everyone is accidentally late sometimes. I think people who make a deliberate habit of being late are being rude.

Why is everyone else's time so cheap that it can be wasted ?
I had a friend years ago who always kept the three( including me) of our bunch of four waiting. Drove me mad!!
Being late for work appointments or meetings is unprofessional.

I absolutely HAVE to be early whenever possible, it drives my family nuts!

Another early bird here. I think people who regularly arrive late are full of their own importance and I have successfully removed them from my social list. However, I do concede there are some people I would wait forever for so no recriminations with them. Incoming texts of their whereabouts are a small comforting consolation!

MissAdventure

I'd rather be early now I'm older.
I didn't worry so much when I was younger.

Me too! The Bodach was always anxious to get going to airport or station, while I would say we had loads of time. He was delighted when, as I got older, I wanted to leave earlier, my war cry being ‘allow time for the flat tyre’!
I have a friend who is always late, and says, quite proudly, that it’s because she hates hanging around waiting for people!

mabon1

Always a few minutes early. The old saying "punctuality is the politeness of kings"

Or as Evelyn Waugh said ‘Punctuality is the virtue of the bored’

I prefer to be early but am invariably late. I underestimate how long it will take me to get ready and overestimate how much time I have at my disposal. Hopefully I’ll learn how to get it right one day!

My mum and dad almost missed their first date, because dad was late, and my mum was fuming.

Always a few minutes early. The old saying "punctuality is the politeness of kings"

I'm always early, not much I can do about it, I just hate being late and simply allow too much time.
My family often turn up late but I don't let it annoy me.
More annoying is my son, if we agree to meet somewhere I can be absolutely sure that he will go to the wrong place if it is even slightly ambiguous. He gets cross if I dare to mention (again) exactly where we are meeting.

‘Them as is keen gets fell in previous’ Petty Officer Cathcart HMS St. Vincent (boys training establishment) Gosport 20th October 1967.

Obeying the last order (another Naval tradition) I am always there a good ten minutes before the start time - never did miss the ship sailing !!

Definately an early bird!!

I prefer to be on time, which usually means I am early, as I have to rely on public transport.

I was brought up to believe it the height of bad manners to be late unless circumstances beyond ones control cause the delay.

Faffing around in the last minute doing unnecessary things is a circumstance we can control.

Why do you put up with this? Simply leave at the right time and if your daughter or husband are not ready then that is their problem, not yours.

I am happy to wait for friends.
Meetings (and theatre shows) should start on time.

1pm does not mean 4pm.
But "anytime after 1pm" might be.

I hate to be late for anything or anybody and consequently always arrive way too early and then get cross with myself while hanging around.

If you are 5 minutes late for a meeting with 10 people are you 5 minutes or 50 minutes late (5 x 10)?

I got lost in London on my way to a course and this was the dressing down I got - very embarrassing but never forgot

@Rekarie, as I explained to a habitually late friend of mine once, ‘we would all like to be late, to take our time over a coffee or in the shower, to not keep looking at the time or to rush out of the house anxious to not let our friends down. But out of respect for others we make the effort to arrive early or on time.’
Indeed I remember once sitting on a coach at the allotted time with other holidaymakers who had just been sightseeing waiting for a couple to return, after half an hour people were calling for the driver to go without them but another passenger volunteered to go and look for them, about ten minutes later he returned with the offending couple whom he announced to the coach were taking a leisurely lunch in a cafe nearby. They didn’t even apologise.

MissAdventure

The time between "I've got ages yet" and "I should be on my way out the door and I'm not even dressed!" does seem to whizz past.

That’s particularly true when I’m off to aqua fit. I often wonder if my body is trying to tell me something, since I’m usually early.

I have a friend. Known her for 55 years. She's been late for everything.
Over the years she's been dropped by other friends. Due to her attitude with regard to timekeeping, amongst other things.

About 15 years ago I was meeting her one evening. I deliberately got there half an hour late, as I got out of the car I told my husband this would be our last night out if she was late. Sat in the pub for a further 20 minutes before she rolled in giggling about being late. Not even apologising.

I told her that I would never go out with her again. I pointed out that if she's flying off on holiday she always makes that on time. She laughed and said that was different .

So we've never been out again!

We're still in touch, but only via WhatsApp etc.

I sometimes feel a bit sorry for her because she's on her own but enough was enough.

The time between "I've got ages yet" and "I should be on my way out the door and I'm not even dressed!" does seem to whizz past.

I and elder son have what he calls ‘punctuality anxiety’, and are usually early for everything, certainly never late. Younger son doesn’t. Once when he had missed a train I said that I had never missed a train, and he said “But think of the hours you’ve wasted hanging around on station platforms.” I had to admit he had a point.

I always strive to be on time and to achieve this usually end up zooming around to get ready at the last moment somehow. I tend to sabotage myself I think!