There is nothing worse than someone who is always late. Lateness can be a charming eccentricity—for a little while. The trouble is that Mr. or Mrs. Unpunctual soon starts causing inconvenience to other people. That’s when the cheerful acceptance gives way to scorn and resentment.
It’s surprising how far the unpunctual person will go to inconvenience others. (1) For example, after accepting the offer of a lift to work the following morning, he or she will fail to turn up at the pick-up spot at the agreed time. There’s sure to be a convincing reason: lost door keys, a child with whooping cough, a cat stuck up an apple tree...
The giver of the lift makes sure he’s not late. He’s made the offer and now he feels responsible for it; come what maybe must keep his word. On the other hand, the person who’s receiving the favor feels free to turn up 10, 15 or 30 minutes after the time which had been agreed on. For him or her they are minutes of hurried activity earning the right to chauffeur-driven luxury; for the driver—the victim—they are minutes of sheer frustration, boredom and wasted time.
What’s the result of this easy-going attitude? (2) Well, maybe the person who offered the lift gives up the seemingly endless wait and disappears, in which case the latecomer struggles to complete his day’s schedule later than ever. Wherever he goes he blames the lift for “letting him down”.
There’s another equally likely result. (3) In this version of the story, the giver of the lift waits in loyal frustration at the side of the road for as long as his thoughtless passenger takes to reach the spot. Not only are both of them late for work, but the passenger tells his colleagues about the driver’s impatience in traffic queues!
So what’s the answer? Perhaps there should be a subtle change in how we view time. At the moment we think of it as a very elastic commodity; we make vague arrangements to meet at about a certain time, and no one has a clear idea as to just how far that time will stretch. Will “about ten o’clock” stretch to a quarter past ten—or will it stretch to half past ten? There are no fixed rules.
