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I'll add more fuel to the fire, based on an incident this morning.
We have three children and this morning was going to be a busy schedule.
At 8:30, someone was picking up our youngest child for a birthday party/spend-the-night party.
At 9:30, my daughter had violin practice.
Also at 9:30, my wife was leaving to take my other son to an athletic event 60 miles away.
So I get up early, help my youngest get his stuff together. The parent was picking up at 8:30, remember?
8:30 comes, no pickup. No big deal.
8:45 comes, no pickup. Okay, still no sweat.
9:00 comes, no pickup. I call the mom who blithely says, "Oh, we're running late. What's your address again?"
9:15 comes, no pickup. Another call from the mom who says, "Tell me where you live again." At this point, my daughter is having to leave, my wife is standing there trying to leave, my other son is in his soccer gear, and we're all at a standstill.
So I have to leave for violin, while my wife and other son have to wait for this woman to arrive. She finally shows up at 9:45, which puts my wife 15 minutes behind schedule for the soccer game. So she's frantically speeding up the interstate to get there on time, and so on and so on and so on.
Now, mind you, the mom in question volunteered the 8:30 pickup time. So we pretty much relied on her word and planned the rest of our day accordingly. But because she was so lax about being on time, it put a serious crimp in everybody else's day.
One of the basic requirements of a grown-up, as opposed to a biological adult, is that you are aware of how your actions affect others. If you cannot be where you promised to be when you promised to be there, then you are not a fully-formed adult in my eyes, and certainly not one to be fully trusted.
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One of the basic requirements of a grown-up, as opposed to a biological adult, is that you are aware of how your actions affect others. If you cannot be where you promised to be when you promised to be there, then you are not a fully-formed adult in my eyes, and certainly not one to be fully trusted.
One of the basic requirements of a grown-up, as opposed to a biological adult, is that you are aware of how your actions affect others. If you cannot be where you promised to be when you promised to be there, then you are not a fully-formed adult in my eyes, and certainly not one to be fully trusted.
Wish I could rep this.
Just two weeks ago I was left out in the freezing cold when someone who was supposed to pick me up from the train station was 40 minutes late. Ms. Late casually pulled up with a big hot chocolate she had obviously stopped to pick up while already late to meet me, as I stood outside with my fingers and toes freezing off. I don't understand how people on this thread can be so cavalier about the way they treat their so-called friends.
I can see your point too. Being anal in school is probably a good thing because it's easier to loosen up from being anal than to up the standards from lax to anal as an adult. The thing is I don't think most students in school get why people are anal about tardiness, because in most students' lives, that level of punctuality has no relevance for them. In the context of showing up for class, one minute doesn't make a difference. Often students end up just being bitter and then abusing their ability to show up late once they get out of school because they're finally "free".
Obviously in the professions you mentioned, there is a large incentive for showing up on time. I think if students in school were presented with such powerful incentives, they'd regularly show up on time too!
Some professors do keep track of tardiness among their students. They'll have absences and tardies worked into their grading system where a certain number of absences will mark you down one letter grade, and two tardies equals one absence.
Some professors do keep track of tardiness among their students. They'll have absences and tardies worked into their grading system where a certain number of absences will mark you down one letter grade, and two tardies equals one absence.
But often they're doing it for the same reason teachers did it in high school--to try to teach students about the "real world."
I always show up to class on time, actually early. I've been known to sit in front of the class room door 20 minutes early. So this isn't for my personal concern. But I do realize that for the most part in life, 1 minute doesn't make a difference. I think these teachers and professors mean well by trying to teach their students a lesson, but I would only start penalties at 5 minutes, which is when most of the world starts noticing tardiness.
If you go into a special field that requires a higher level of punctuality, then penalties for smaller amounts of tardiness make sense. For example I could understand being that anal in medical school when your graduated students will have to show up in the E.R. on time or show up in the O.R. to do an organ transplant.
In general, even in workplaces, most people don't notice when people are 1 minute late.
I despise tardiness in people. There is generally no reason for someone to always be late. It shows disrespect for that person, IMO.
I try to be at least 5 minutes early for most commitments.
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