A *heh* Timely Poll

[packbat]

Naming no names, of course.

Edit: And greetings to all the peeps from the_zaniak chiming in!

Edit #2: And thequestionclub! (Wow, that's a lot of people.)

[Poll #1166935]

Comments

[musicluvr325.livejournal.com]

One of my biggest pet peeves is when someone is late. Past 5 minutes without a call to me, I'm a bit pissed.

[oneminutecloser.livejournal.com]

Haha, some of these answers. Apparently 10 minutes late can be "on time" and it's only until an hour and a half later that you are "excessively late."

[mumblestutter.livejournal.com]

Well, it depends. I answered the poll as if we were talking about a job here...you shouldn't ever be more than 5 minutes late for a job, and even that's pushing it. But 5 minutes late to meet your friend for coffee? That's still on time. Even 10 minutes late to that isn't egregious.

[wateringcan.livejournal.com]

it depends on the situation but mine is thinking about uni, if it was work i wouldn't want to be anything out of 5 minutes early to on time

[obfuscate.livejournal.com]

Seriously. My boyfriend was an hour late once and didn't call and when we finally talked about it he said, "Okay, when do I need to call? If I'm 15 minutes late?" And I said YES OF COURSE, and he was all astounded that fifteen minutes would warrant a phone call and then I stabbed him.

Not that last part.

[kitsunecub.livejournal.com]

if you're not 5 min early, you're late

[packbat.livejournal.com]

Good to know.

[packbat.livejournal.com]

Y'know, I've met people who are unpunctual that way. I wonder if it's a social thing?

[andalusi.livejournal.com]

In a professional setting in the US, I try to be there early, but I don't consider it late if I get there a minute or two beforehand.

In an informal setting, being up to 15 minutes late isn't a big deal. More than that and I'd call as soon as I thought I was going to be more than a few minutes late. But if it's a friend who's really uptight about punctuality, I'll do my best to be there on time.

But seriously, this country is so hung up on being early to everything. I like it when I'm in places who aren't so wound up about time.

[packbat.livejournal.com]

There's a reason why I ran the poll out that far. :)

[obfuscate.livejournal.com]

People just have very different approaches to timeliness. It definitely differs regionally.

I'm amazed by how many people think you're not late until well after the scheduled time.

[packbat.livejournal.com]

Right - I probably should have made the question less ambiguous. I was thinking more along the lines of the coffee thing.

[packbat.livejournal.com]

Sehr gut!

[packbat.livejournal.com]

That's certainly how I schedule my day. :)

[andalusi.livejournal.com]

It's how my family is. Some of my friends are that way, too, and some aren't.

[andalusi.livejournal.com]

"Places that," even, or better yet, "places with people who."

[packbat.livejournal.com]

I think it's a Red Queen's Race thing - once we had mechanization and efficiency experts and foremen, it al started running further and further into the time-is-expensive end. And then, a century later, here we are, bragging about how little sleep we get at night. :/

[packbat.livejournal.com]

Didn't even see that. Some pedant I am. :P

[packbat.livejournal.com]

I honestly don't know how many people think that way - part of the purpose of this (probably mostly useless) poll, actually. ;)

[obfuscate.livejournal.com]

I consider it disrespectful. It shows me that you (you being the late person) do not value my time, and if you don't value my time, you don't value me. I don't think it's an irrational issue of being "wound up" about time so much as understanding that being on time is a commitment that's important to honor.

[packbat.livejournal.com]

Any commonalities to suggest whence the difference?

[andalusi.livejournal.com]

So very true. I just never saw the point in being proud of rushing and cutting into your own personal time because of a ridiculous "early is on time" policy. I understand it even less when it's not even work-related.

I'll still show up to interviews, assignments, and meetings with a few minutes to spare---I don't have to like the precept to know my professional future depends on following it---but I'll never be convinced it's as important as most people in this country do.

[andalusi.livejournal.com]

And that's why I think people are too wound up about it: when someone takes it as an offense against his or her honor, one reads way too much into it. Not willing to wait a couple of minutes for a friend without bitching at that friend strikes me as more disrespectful and dismissive of a person's worth.

[andalusi.livejournal.com]

My inner pedant is still berating me for making the mistake in the first place.

[obfuscate.livejournal.com]

And while I can see your point, I just disagree. You're also assuming about the "bitching" thing.