squeeeb

you say you will meet a friend at the corner of this and that at 11:00. do you arrive 5 mintues before, spot on time, 5 minutes after, or whenever you get there?

i ask this because i am pretty punctual, to a fault. it comes from when i was a kid, my mother would always, ALWAYS, be late to wherever we were invited to, and since she would drag me along, i was embarrassed. so now, i am at least 20 minutes early to everything, i sit in my car and wait for the time. i'd rather be 30 minutes early than 5 mintues late. i know germans are spot on time. i know other countries are a bit more lax. i was gonna meet a freind, i showed up, he was about 10 mintues "late" and i wonder how the rest of you all are, in general....

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Charlatan

I try to be right on time.

I don't like to be too early as I see it as a waste of time.

I also don't like being late as I see it as a sign of disrespect. If you are going to be late, it's essential that you call and inform the waiting party.

That said, the rules for house parties are very clear. If the party is called for 8pm you shouldn't really show up until 8:30ish. And you never show early (unless you want to see the host in her curlers).

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ngdawg

I am not punctual. I walk into work anywhere from 5 minutes before to 15 minutes late. I was late to my own wedding and late for my sister's. My spouse is always pissed off at me because I'm always last minute, which is silly-he's known me for 30 years!! I plan for that '2 hour window' when flying, but usually get to the airport 30-45 minutes before flight time.
Last time I was even close to being punctual was my birth-I was due October 7 and arrived October 8.

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Cynthetiq

I try to be on time. To places I know how to get there and know what traffic or transportation (bus/subway/walking) are like, I'm going to be there as close to on time as possible barring transport problems.

But to places I have never been to, don't know the route, traffic patterns, train schedules, distance to walk from station, I am generally 20-30 minutes early since I try to pad about that much extra "get lost" time.

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spectre

I'm usually either early or right on time. Even using public transportation, I manage to pull it off. Although, I can think of one instance where there was a fire at one of the train stations and I was forced to switch to a bus that made me over an hour late, but for the most part, I'm very early to everything.

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Push-Pull

If it's a one-off thing, I try to be early by a few minutes. If it's an everyday thing (ie., work) I can pretty much dial it in to the minute. The wife on the other hand is ALWAYS late. I've even conceded that she'll be late to my funeral should I go first.....

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TotalMILF

Late..... always. I often use my toddler son as an excuse, too

xepherys

And when she says always, it's not an exaggeration! Love you hun!

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healer

I try to be on time, and succeed most of the time. I have this really bad habit of lying in bed for as long as possible in the morning, only to jump at the last possible moment and rushing to work.

I always let the waiting person/people know that I'll be late though. Not doing that is both disrespectful and extremely rude.

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warrrreagl

I am always early if I am arriving by myself. If I am arriving with someone (who shall not be named) then I am always late.

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Martian

I share Charlatan's view. It is now 10 am and I have to be at work for 11. I'm ready to go now and will leave in approximately 40 minutes, which gives me the 15 minutes or so of travel time plus a 5 minute leeway. I'll be there in just enough time to grab a coffee and start my day. No time wasted, no issues with the boss.

EDIT - I am, however, not very proficient in using public transit, mostly from lack of experience. There's very little in the way of public transit in this town and when I lived in the city I maintained my lifelong habit of walking nearly everywhere; the exception was when I worked across the city. In that situation I knew which bus I needed to catch and when I had to catch it. Other than that, I'm quite bad at it.

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MageB420666

I always try my best to show up 5-10 minutes early. I am very rarely late anywhere. I generally have quite a few books sitting in my car, so it is not unknown for me to show up 40 minutes or more ahead of time and get some reading done.

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Lasereth

The biggest deal is letting someone know if you're gonna be late. The sting and embarassment of being late is much, much lesser if you simply inform the waiting party that you're gonna be late. When people are 5-30 minutes late without calling, that's when it's annoying.

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LoganSnake

I am anal when it comes to punctuality. My girlfriend doesn't understand why I drag her to everything 15-20 minutes early. I start to have doubts of going somewhere even if I am 1-3 minutes late. I have to be there right on time no matter what.

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The_Jazz

Whenever I set appointments for work, I always give at least a 30 minute range. I have to because I always have to deal with flights, traffic and other appointments that may run late. It's embarrassing to show up late for a cold call, and it really reduces my chances of success.

That said, I try to be on time. I don't always succeed, but I try.

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GingerRoot

It depends on the event - doctors appoitments etc I am usually early. I am also usually early for work and will allways call even if I probably won't be late but might be. I have noticed however that most of my friends are about 5 minutes late and some MUCH MORE so, I adjust my 'lateness' accordingly. I agree with Charlatan about the unwritten party rule, however some of my relatives say 11:00 and mean 10:30. so I try to consider all of that.

Xazy

I am almost always early, I hate being late. Which is weird cause if I ever have a family thing I may go with my brother and he is always late and it drives me nuts, so I avoid going with him as much as possible (and well he owes me a ton of money).

I hate the idea of anyone ever waiting on me.

Walking Shadow

In this day and age there is no excuse for being late.

None.

I haven't been late for anything in over 20 years.

World's King

I used to always be way early... being late would freak me out.

But for some reason, in the past year or so... I don't a flying fuck.

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medlar

I'm fairly punctual. Always for soccer practice..it's bad luck to show up late especially for a match.

I have an internal alarm clock that gets me out of bed early, I have to nash it to catch a bus and get to school on time and for each time your late its a bother to get a form from the office, that and it shows up on your report card later. In fact having to rely on buses for getting around makes you strive to be more punctual.

I work at a car lot after school and on weekends and usually arrive on time but, most people working there have a casual outlook so if Im a few minutes late its no bothers to them though they are more than happy to keep me late there. I can't say I have been that punctual on meeting my curfews however..just make sure I've got a good alibi to back me up

Mith

I'm usually on time for most things which is amazing considering I take the bus. Here in Phoenix the bus is horrible. I'm thinking about getting a motorized bicycle.

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Jove

I am about 10-15 minutes early if I am going to meet someone, but for work I am 30 minutes early just to get myself in the work mood.

newtx

5 or 10 minutes early is on time for me. I am not an organized person but I am usually on time or early.

Xazy

I blame the cell phone a lot for people coming late. When I would make appointments to show apartments, people would feel it is ok to call 10-15 minutes before hand and say they are running late. I would say maybe 50% of the time it was totally acceptable to come 30 minutes late for them as long as they call within 10 minutes of the appointment. While I appreciated the heads up, I wondered if it was the cell phone aspect that made it acceptable.

When talking to other agents who had been in the industry for decades they agreed that with the cell phone it had become more norm.

Charlatan

I have a feeling those people would have been late anyway. The phone just lets them apologize in advance.

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MexicanOnABike

If it's all on me, then i'm never late. if i rely on the bus or someone else for a ride, then i can't promise anything.

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jth

I hate waiting for people for just about anything, especially when someone says they'll be there in 30 minutes and they're there in 45, I just hate that. Although I'm to nice a person to voice my dislike of it.

I'm always early for everything by 5 to 15 minutes. As a musician I have a huge aversion to things not happening on time, and for things to happen on time it requires a certain amount of 'set up' time. Example, if I'm to play a gig at 10pm I'm there at 9:30 so all my gear is set up and working properly, giving me enough time for emergencies and to perhaps have a drink before the set. This has translated to my non professional life. I'm almost always early baring unforseen circumstances, and when others are late, it really grinds my gears.

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JustJess

Okay, um, I love you a LOT. Like, a LOT. As close as family amounts. And I don't know if it's you or skogafoss... but y'all aren't often on time with us! We're okay with that and all, but tis true, tis true. I know you definitely try to be early/on time, tho.

The reason I would never criticize you for being late (tho I do love giving you a hard time) is because I suck at being on time. The only reason I am on time to almost any event is because I'm going with Quadro, who is super duper anal about being on time (not that that's a bad thing). I have great intentions and plans, but shit always happens and I get pushed back. Usually not more than 10 minutes, but sometimes, oh, sometimes... *sigh*

I suck.

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Meditrina

As much as I hate being late, it depends on what I am going to and who I am going with. We always arrive at family gatherings early, for 2 reasons. 1) I like to help them setting up and stuff and 2) my children interact with the others better if they are given a chance to warm up first. When going to work however, I am hardly early. I get there right on time, which is the reason why I pay to park in the parking garage attached to my building. It is not always easy getting the kids ready to leave in the morning, they do the best they can though. Pretty much to everything else, I aim to get to places at least 5-15 minutes early. I just hate being late when someone is waiting for me.

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Xazy

Can not say always but the last 6 months for sure, he has always been on time. Then again walking 1 building over is not as far.

JustJess

Uh hunh. Not that I can throw stones, but try meeting 'em somewhere other than their apartment!

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roachboy

depends on the situation.
workwise, i kinda have to be early because i ride a bike and will often arrive more....uh......moistened from the ride than i was at the outset. and then there is the time required for the endorphin pit to dissipate. this is just takes a few minutes, particularly if the ride featured one or more close calls between my bikeself and some fucktard on a cellphone while driving their fucking car (but i digress). for gigs, i am always early because i have a routine that i feel like i have to do before a performance. without it, the performance will definitely suck, where with it it might suck, and that possibility that it wont suck seems worth showing up early for.

but that's about it--otherwise i try to be on time and usually am but sometimes i am not. though frankly i am more likely to forget altogether that i am to be somewhere than i am to turn up late.

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Jinn

If it's a one time thing, I'm usually 5 minutes early. I don't like the embarrassment of arriving after other people, who already know what the heck is going on. I also don't like to keep people who I've only seen/met once or twice waiting.

If it's a daily thing (like work) I'm 10-25 minutes late.

I strongly dislike wasting time, such as time spent waiting around. I also dislike embarrassment.

Basically, my arrival time A in minutes is:

A = 5E - 7F + 5U +/- r

Where Embarrassment (E) ranges from -3 to 3;
-3 is that the person would be very upset and/or there will be a large crowd seeing me arrive,
0 is there might be people there, there might not be,
3 is "no one there will give a fuck if I'm late."

Familiarity (F) has three states;
1 if I've never been there,
0.5 if I've been there one or two times
0 if I've been there three or more times.

Undesirability (U) is really only used for work and other things I don't really like doing. It's a binary variable.
If Undesirable = 1, then I'll be an additional 5 minutes late.
If Undesirable = 0, then only A = 5E - 7F applies.

Examples:
If E=-3, then I'll be -15 (15 minutes early). If I've never been there, I could be up to 22 minutes early (F=1). If E=3, and F=0 then I'll be 15 (15 minutes late). If E=0 and I've been there more than 3 times (F=0) then I'll probably be on time. If I'm going to work, then E=3, F = 0, U = 1; I'll be 20 minutes late.

Sometimes I laugh at myself for being an engineer

EDIT: had to add variable r, for "random acts of god" / unexpected difficulties (such as car trouble), which allows for the other cases (being extremely early or extremely late). It is 0 for all other conditions.

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ShaniFaye

I absolutely cannot stand being late, like the OP my mother got us arriving late no matter where we were going, and now I over compensate lol I am anywhere from 15-30 minutes early, partial defense is knowing that Atlanta traffic is never predictable

If I have a dinner party and say starts at 6 or 7 or whenever....people better be there by that time. "fashionably late" is not acceptable in my book. Im ALWAYS ready one hour prior to start time. If I cooked food, you'd better be there on time or Im going to start eating without you and your food will be cold.

If its acceptable to me for you to be there at a non specific time I will say...party starts at 7 and ends at 10 and its up to you when to show up....but if you dont show up til 930 dont get your panties in a wad when I kick you out after only being there for 1/2 hour.

I absolutely cannot stand it for people to be late, especially chronics. If you cant respect me enuff to be there when you say you will....unless someone is dying or bleeding....dont bother telling me you'll be there.

I'm well known for leaving if someone is 10 minutes late and has not called to let me know.

I will not "baby" people by telling them an earlier start time just so they are there on time....I did that for years and decided, fuck it I'm not their mother

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Grancey

This is coming from someone who arrived late for his own concert because he screwed up the time change, etc., etc., etc.......

I, however, prefer to arrive on time for scheduled events. I do not like to arrive early. Red considers on time to be late. Not sure what he considers the screw up with that concert....

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warrrreagl

Now wait just a damn minute. I arrived ON TIME for the concert. However, I just forgot that we lived in Central Time and the concert was in Eastern Time, so I was technically sort of kind of an hour late. Doesn't count, does it? I didn't even realize how late I was going to be until we were about halfway there (an hour-long drive) and then I freaked and panicked.

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Bear Cub

Usually a few minutes early, but when going out with my friends, I've forced myself to leave late. Always feel like an asshole showing up to the bar alone and standing around by myself.

hambone

early is on time for me. I don't like to make people wait.

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Lady Sage

On the extremely rare occasion that I have been even the slightest bit tardy... Car accidents and or uber traffic jams. Normally I am at least 10 minutes early. Half an hour if the destination is farther away. Always have a book though!

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absorbentishe

I try, really try to be on time. Most often, I'm 5 to 20 minutes late. Not that I do on purpose, but it happens. There's always something keeping my attention for that last minute, that keeps me from being on time.