Sometimes, Being Late is Not Your Fault!

I have a real problem with being late---not me, other people. I am NEVER late---unless it is a direct result of someone else. If that happens to me even one time, I make sure it never happens again. I have a friend(s) who is always late. I solved that by never riding with her. Or at the very least, I do the picking up. That, at least, seems to move things along.

Connie and I share a lot of rides and it works perfectly for us as she is as committed to being on time as I am. Sure, things pop up now and them, but it's pretty rare. We can rely on each other. Ditto with some of my other friends.

I have another group of friends that are consistently late---and I mean ALL of them. I tell myself not to stress about it---just be late too. I just can't do it. These gals can even be late when we are meeting at their house! How can that happen? It does.

How many times have you heard, "sorry, I'm late, the phone rang as I was walking out the door." What?? How about NOT answering it? Does that mean that whoever is calling is MORE important than the person you are leaving hanging? (Probably not correct grammar, but I can't think of a better way to say it). It's just plain wrong. And I don't even consider myself a particularly sensitive person that gets her feeling hurt easily. I just get royally ticked. We're all busy and all have things to do. I would never presume that my time is more important than someone else's.

Steph is another "late'' person---although I have to say, I think she's learned her lesson---at least a little. We finally started just leaving without her. Now that Mindy's back in town---and always on time---I think that has put the pressure on her. Or she doesn't want to be left behind or miss anything. She has already fallen out of the "coupon" rotation---as Butch has started to give them to Mindy first. Why Mindy needs coupons, I don't know---she eats here a lot. But I digress...

Here's the thing. When people are late, to me that sends the message that "you are not important enough for me to be on time for" or "your time is not important to me"---it's just downright disrespectful. Can you tell that being late really pisses makes me mad?

Here's today's story. I had another organizing class at our local scrapbook store (sold out class #3). I got up at 5:30 and headed up to my scrapbook room to work on my AYM layouts. I already had my class stuff packed and hauled downstairs yesterday, so was ready to go with that. I planned on stopping at 8:15 in order to give me enough time to shower and get out of the house by 9:00 a.m. It takes me exactly 40 minutes to get ready---unless you include shaving which only happens once a year prior to swim season. Then I have to allow an extra 15 minutes---10 to shave and realize I left the lid on the shaver and then another 5 to get the job done.

Anyway, I'm working away in my scrapbook room, getting a lot done, noticing the clock now and then. Suddenly, I notice that my clock says 8:40 a.m. I'm not worried because I hadn't changed the clock in my scrapbook room. Then it hit me---Butch, who changes ALL the clocks, did not change the one in the bedroom---and the clock I was looking at was correct! I shot out of my room like a bullet. Now I'm panicked---no shower, brush teeth, use deodorant, no time for any type of fashion decision---just grab what I had on yesterday, little makeup, brush through my hair, load up, and on my way. I made it in plenty of time, but not a great way to start my day. I never like to be rushed. All the "what ifs" start---what if I get stuck in traffic, what if I forgot something, etc. Being frazzled is not a good way for me to start my class. It took me about 5 minutes to calm down and really settle into the class. After that it was fine.

I did yell at Butch before leaving the house about "why in the world would you NOT change the most important clock in the house? No wonder this entire week has flown by. Each day I got up, I was already an hour later in the day! Sheesh! I didn't get nearly as much done as I usually do. An hour makes a big difference!!! And it wasn't my fault.