punctual?

[poky]

Neither of us is chronically late, we aim for a little early (except to people's houses). I think it really solidified as a habit when we took 11 plane trips in the space of 6 weeks when we got married/honeymooned. DH is tall, and the only way to get exit rows so his legs weren't cramped up was(is?) to arrive *really* early and ask. So we did. We were typically at the airport 3-4 hours before departure (in one case, before we could even check in!). We got to know a lot of airports *really* well, but it also taught us that it's not the end of the world to have extra time, be relaxed, and entertain ourselves while we wait; the time doesn't have to be wasted. :huh:

[mommax3]

I am almost always on time and am paranoid about being late. I can't stand the thought of someone else waiting on me or wondering if I am going to show up because I don't want to inconvenience them.

Sally

[samssugarmomma]

I used to be late for absolutely everything not because I don't care or because I didn't try. I just was. Not really late - just by a minute or five. I think I'm in recovery though. I've really been making an effort the past few months to overcome my lateness and be on time. I was doing pretty good too! The day that I was put on bedrest, I was 10 minutes early for my doctor appointment!

ETA: I did just read an etiquette thing by the Post sisters that said you should NEVER show up early (even by a couple of minutes) to a social function at someone's home. Thought that was interesting.

Then I am a VERY polite person when it comes to social functions at other people's homes!

I don't think I will ever be able to hang out with many of you! My tardiness would make you think I was very rude. Really though, I'm just time-management-challenged. I get up very early every morning so that I can be sure to be at work on time! I have to leave myself plenty of time!

[v-girl]

I panic if I'm running on time. I have to be running early.

[GrayMatterWife]

I'm on time but DH drives me nuts. He's a "just one more thing" kind of guy - as in, I've got 3 minutes to get out the door and I haven't showered. Let me read one more journal article before hitting the shower....

AAAAAHHHHHH!

I've remedied this by telling him we've got to be wherever thirty minutes earlier than when we actually do. It works pretty well!

Are we married to the same guy???

I am a time-FREAK. I hate people being late. I hate being late. DS is always yelling at DH, "Mom is at the door, Dad! Gogogogo!"

Yeah I hate being late too, and it stresses me out if I think I will be. I gradually got more patient with other peoples lateness after living in Ireland for 5 years, where everyone is late for everything My one good friend who I saw most weekends was late every single time, and to the end I would still be on time and waiting!

[peggyfromwastate]

Hmmm, I think I am usually on time, but I don't stress about it because lots of things may happen. I may get stuck in a traffic jam, I may have to wait an extra 5 minutes for someone to go to the bathroom before we leave, and I may have to go into the house about 3 or 4 extra times to get this or that necessary item. DH is actually very punctual, but of course he forgets stuff at home all the time.

My DD Izzy (6), is the slowest child in the world. She takes like 8 minutes to put on shoes, 3 minutes to put on a jacket, 15 minutes to locate her backpack, etc.... She makes me late to lots of places.

[Stella]

:funnycry:

I'm sorry, I just have to laugh because apparently I'm the ONLY one who is always late.

:alarmclock:

Whether it is 5 minutes or 2 hours, I'm rarely on time. I have missed flights, I'm late to parties (but you shouldn't be right on time for those anyway, that's rude IMHO), and I've been spoken to at work about showing up 5 minutes late every day. My mom says that I was born 2 weeks late and I just never caught up.

Funny though, SO is always late and so are my family and my best friends. So I guess we're all used to it and equally guilty.

There are SOME occasions where I'm on time or (gasp!) even early. But for some reason, people don't notice that as much.

[DCJenn]

military spouse= on time or early.

I can't tell you the number of parties we've ended up driving around the neighborhoods or grabbing a cup of coffee somewhere because we're THAT early.

Nikolai's former daycare and his preschool have things that start at a specific time so he's always on-time.

Me? I'll roll into work when I want to because I'm still a 20 hour person and usually have my 20 hours by Wednesday of any given week.

Jenn

[Vanquisher]

I would like to know, as a frequent party host, why it is considered rude to be on time to a party?

I hate it when I am waiting for guests to arrive. It's annoying. I said 6:00, and I meant 6:00! When I am invited to a party, I have always been on time and found it incredibly awkward because we are the only guests there. It feels incredibly anxiety-inducing that I have to force myself to be late to a party. I feel awful if I am 15 minutes late to a party, much less 30 minutes, but I have been in the past only to STILL be the first one to arrive. What is up with that??

So, why is it rude to be on-time to a party? Are there party exceptions where one should be on time? Which parties is it okay to be late to (baby or wedding showers, dinner parties, holiday parties, birthday parties, superbowl parties, barbeques, just hanging out, etc.)? How late should a person be to a party? There is far to much guessing involved, and I think people should be on time. :huh:

I find this thread ironic....medical spouses talking about punctuality when their SO's are in a profession that 98% of the time runs late.

Thanks for the good laugh!

I'm late to parties (but you shouldn't be right on time for those anyway, that's rude IMHO)

I don't understand this either....if I am having a party at X time, you show up at Y time, you aren't getting any of the good chips and dip.
I agree with Heidi, it just turns up the anxiety if you are hosting many or unfamiliar folks...as is typical with medical gatherings.

I would like to know, as a frequent party host, why it is considered rude to be on time to a party?

There is far to much guessing involved, and I think people should be on time. :huh:

I agree. DH and I are always the first ones to arrive, and we are really just on time. If the hosts wanted people to show up later, they should have just put a later time on the invite!

I have read, too that it is considered rude to show up early to a party, however, I have some Scandinavian friends who have said that showing up even one minute late is rude. So they are always early to our parties- doesn't bother me any- hey, I have someone to help me set-up!

[SuzySunshine]

Heidi - I agree, its REALLY annoying when you throw a party and you say 6 and no one shows us until at least 6:15. Always makes me think no one is coming!

[MDPhDWife]

My mom says that I was born 2 weeks late and I just never caught up.

My mom says the same exact thing!

I tend to only run about 5 minutes late. Any later than that and I start to stress. I don't like being early because I feel like that is such a waste of time. I aim to be on time but more times than not I end up being a couple minutes late.

DH is really bad though. Our 1st date we were supposed to meet at a restaurant. I remember standing outside the restaurant calling my mom on my cell phone to see if she wanted to come have dinner with me since my date was already 20 minutes late and I figured I was stood up. Then he finally showed up and I was so ticked that he didn't even have the decency to call. I didn't think I'd give him a 2nd date, but you see how that went.....

IL's now tell us things are 1/2 hour before they actually are so that we'll be on time, but now it just confuses us. We never know if they are serious about the actual time so things are just worse.