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Are We Having a Punctuality Crisis?
I’m a pretty easygoing person. For social occasions, I don’t care if someone is late, since I’m a pretty busy person and am very flexible with plans. If someone is late, great. I can catch up on law school readings, work on a project at work, read, and watch Netflix. Unless it’s a meeting or gathering where punctuality is of the utmost importance, I am anti-rigidity. I have friends who are a lot more free-spirited than me and really struggle with being on time, and I love them deeply.
However, one thing I’m big about is being punctual as a form of respect. I don’t mind personally when other people are not on time when we have plans. I do stress, however, when I am not on time and I’m the person holding other people up. It feels like I am disrespecting the other person and not valuing their time, even if they express otherwise that being five minutes late is no big deal.
Professionally, I run IEP meetings and complete close-out procedures for my job. To me, not starting on time or close to on time is a form of disrespect to the parent of a child with an IEP and the rest of the staff.
The punctuality issue is an issue in my relationship. I stress not being more than five minutes late, at most, to pretty much anything…
